Digimon: Home by the Sea
by Count Morningstar
Summary: Kari has been missing for a month, and her disappearance has affected all of the Digidestined to varying degrees. T.K. believes that The Dark Ocean has ensnared Kari once again, but no one believes him. Full summary inside. Finished.
1. Prologue

**Summary: **Kari has been missing for a month, and her disappearance has affected all of the Digidestined to varying degrees. The only one who seems to have a clue as to Kari's whereabouts is T.K., who has been having very intense nightmares since the disappearance. The dreams make T.K. believe that The Dark Ocean has ensnared Kari once again, yet no one believes him. Even T.K. himself doubts the visions, until an enemy from the past arrives and offers to take him to the mysterious Home by the Sea.

**Setting:** This story takes place when the Digidestined children from Adventure 02 first start college (so they're in their early 20's).

**Author's Note:** Many of the chapters in this stories will have the titles of Phil Collins and Genesis songs. Those titles will be in quotes (" "). You don't need to listen to the songs to understand what's going on in the story, but it is a fun way to find out a little about my thought process a little. Besides, they're great songs.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon or any of the characters. If I did, this story would be an OVA.

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><p>Prologue<p>

_She walked along the beach barefoot. The only thing she was wearing was a pink dress with a long skirt that flowed in the breeze. She did not know why she was walking along the beach, nor did she know where she was going. She did not even remember how she had gotten there. She kept walking however, for it seemed that there was some place that she had to go to. She did not like being on that beach though. She knew that there was something dangerous about that beach, but she could not remember what. It was as if her mind was in a thick fog._

_The sky overhead cast a grey, gloomy twilight over the land. It was impossible to tell if it was day or night, and the only sound that could be heard was that of the waves crashing against the beach. She remembered that this beach was always like that though, grey and lifeless. It was the only thing that she could remember about that beach. It was the only thing that she could remember at all in fact. Even the memory of her own name had escaped her._

_As she walked, the smell of the salt air of the almost black ocean became mixed with the smell of dead fish. The odor was so overpowering that she wanted to turn back at that instant. But no matter how hard she tried though, she couldn't. Her legs seemed to be moving of their own accord, and the fog in her mind was too thick for her to put up a good argument._

_The fish smell kept getting stronger as she moved forward, and soon she came upon on a small village that looked abandoned even from a distance. She could not tell exactly how much time had passed, but before she knew it she was in the village. The whole place seemed to have been abandoned for years. The paint on all the buildings had peeled away, and there were very few roofs that were completely intact. Most had either completely caved in or just had a few holes in them. Most of the buildings that she passed were two story houses with boarded up windows on the second story. The entire town had a look of complete decay, which was made more prominent by the fishy odor. Yet she couldn't help but feel that there was still life._

_It was not as if there was anyone or anything outside with her. From the outside the village was abandoned. Yet she felt as if something watching her, something that terrified her. Not that she could place what it was, but the more time she spent in that village, the more she felt afraid. It was as if the thick fog in her mind was beginning to part. Every now and than she would hear sounds that one might be able to call voices if they didn't sound so inhuman. She could almost remember just what kind of creature made those sounds. Yet there was a part of her that didn't want to remember, a part that wanted to bury that memory for as long as she lived. She was on the brink of a horrible realization about where she was and what lived in that rotting village._

_At last her feet had brought her out of that shadowed ghost town and she felt some relief. But it was all too quickly shattered by an even greater horror that stood before her. For now she found herself walking towards a great black reef jutting into the ocean like a knife. In that instant that she saw that horrid reef, the fog in her mind had lifted completely. She remembered who she was, where she was, and just what sort of things lived in that horrible fish-smelling village. The appearance of the reef had brought it all crashing back. At that moment, she wanted to run away as fast as she could, run and leave that terrible ocean. But no matter how hard she tried her body wouldn't obey her. Mindlessly her legs took her onto that blasphemous reef. She could not even scream in protest. It was like she was watching everything unfold on a television screen, yet the sensation of the rough reef terrain under her feet and the smell of that salt air combined with the odor of rotted fish told her that it was all too real._

_She had finally stopped walking when she reached the end of the reef. Again, she tried to turn and run, but again her body would not obey her. She was paralyzed, awaiting some great terror to come. That terror was not the things that lived in the village. Those creatures did indeed scare her; for she remembered what they were and what unspeakable things they wanted to do with her. What scared her now however was something that she had little or no previous knowledge of. It was a thing that lurked beneath the waves of that dark grey ocean, a thing that even those accursed creatures both feared and worshipped._

_Suddenly, she saw something slowly begin to rise from the waves. It was a thing that was incredibly huge, almost mountainous. As it rose out of the ocean, more of its shape could be seen. The creature was roughly humanoid with an octopus head and a pair of bat-like wings on its back. The general outline of its shape, combined with its red glowing eyes made the creature the most terrifying thing she had ever seen. Again she wanted to run, desperately wanted to leave that horrid place, but her legs stayed where they were as if they were rooted to the ground. She could not even scream for help, not that there was anyone there to help her. She was alone. Finally, the titan creature began to reach out an arm or tentacle for her, and she knew that the end was about to come._

Kari Kamiya woke up screaming in a cold sweat. As she caught her breath, she realized that it was only another nightmare. Though it was perhaps the worst nightmare that she had had all month. It was more or less the same as the previous nightmares, but this time Kari had seen the thing that those undersea Digimon called their god. It was over though, but just as Kari breathed a sigh of relief, she noticed that something was wrong. Her surroundings were different from what they were when she dozed off that afternoon.

When Kari had fallen asleep, she was in her apartment. Now she found herself in a room that was completely unfamiliar to her. The first thing she noticed was the floral patterend wallpaper that was not only faded, but parts of it were hanging off the walls. The bed that Kari was sitting on was a single bed that had sheets that looked liked they had not been changed in years. To its right was a dust-covered nightstand with a single rust covered lamp. All of this told Kari that the room she was in was very old. On the side on Kari's right was an adjoining room that Kari thought (and hoped) was the bathroom.

In the nearby corner across the room that was also on Kari's right was a door that she took to be the door out of the room. Immediately Kari leapt from the bed and ran to the door to try the knob. As she feared though, the knob would not turn. She was trapped. On the other side of the room was a large window, and when Kari glanced out of it as she turned to go back to sit on the bed, she was so horrified by the view that she walked backward until she hit the wall, raising her hand to her mouth to stifle a scream at the same time. The view outside was that of a grey sky over an almost black ocean, its waves hitting the shore of a grey beach. Hesitantly, after regaining some composure, Kari walked to the window to get a closer look. A closer examination only confirmed what she already knew though, Kari was back at the Dark Ocean.

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><p>Review and let me know what you think<p> 


	2. Since I Lost You

**Author's Note:** Song used for the title is from the Genesis album: We Can't Dance.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 1: "Since I Lost You"<p>

In this world there is perhaps no greater combination of beauty and terror than the ocean. On days of good weather, the sound of the waves and salty smell can have a calming effect on a person, and the setting sun against the blue expanse has been known to conjure images of romance. There is beauty beneath the ocean as well in the form of friendly dolphins, gentle whales, playful seals, and the many colorful fish and coral reefs. Yet the sea has its horrors too. Storms at sea have been known to sink many a ship, and beneath its waters lurk sharks and other deadly predators. And yet the ocean has even greater terrors than that. For brooding in the deepest and darkest depths of the ocean lurk strange and bizarre creatures that have remained unchanged for untold eons. Many of these depths have remained untapped and unseen by humankind, and it is perhaps better that they remain so.

Takeru "T.K." Takaishi had been contemplating the ocean for about a month. Every afternoon when he was done with his part-time job he would come to the nearby beach and stare at the ocean and wonder about its beauty and terror, mostly its terror. T.K. had been doing that ever since his friend Kari Kamiya had disappeared on the day of March twenty-fourth. There was no immediate sign that Kari had disappeared. The only odd thing was that Kari had not shown up for work or her classes the next day, but most had only interpreted that as Kari being sick and staying home. The second and more obvious sign did not reveal itself until Kari's brother Tai had come to visit her at her apartment that afternoon, only for the girl's Digimon partner Gatomon to tell Tai that Kari never came home the previous night.

Gatomon's news that Kari had not returned home had caused a panic among the Digidestined, and they promptly began looking for where Kari might have gone. Another day passed, and the group decided to inform the police. The police had mounted some effort in the search, but with rate crime being what it was, they could not give the disappearance their full attention, which served to frustrate the Digidestined, especially Tai. Meanwhile, the group continued with their own search efforts, repeatedly searching not only the human world, but the Digital World as well. But as more time passed and more ground repeatedly covered, the search seemed hopeless, and eventually the group gave up.

People could only make guesses about what had happened to Kari. Many of the students on the campus where Kari went to college all thought that Kari had simply run off somewhere, or perhaps even committed suicide. For it was widely known that Kari was having a few problems. Her first semester of college had not been going well for her, and Kari had also had more than a few problems with her boss at the coffee place where she worked. Then of course there was the disastrous relationship with her fellow Digidestined, Davis Motomiya. It had become gossip on campus that Davis had been cheating on Kari, and that Kari had finally had enough and dumped him for good. However it seemed to the gossipers that all of those things had simply just been too much for Kari to handle and that she had either run off somewhere or decided to end it all.

The Digidestined refused to believe the theory that Kari had run off though. For if she did, then why did she not take Gatomon with her? As for the suicide theory, they all refused to believe that. Yet in the back of the minds of a few in the Digidestined group, that theory did seem possible. For everyone knew of the problems that Kari was having, but the Digidestined also noticed that there was something else too. Since the start of those problems, the group had noticed that Kari had become more depressed and reclusive, and even quite antisocial after she had ended it with Davis. This behavior seemed to indicate that there was something more going on than just the obvious problems that Kari was having, but when the questioned her about it, Kari would tell them nothing. Not even Gatomon could learn anything about what was troubling her human partner.

There was of course one other theory that the Digidestined had, a dark theory, though perhaps not as dark about that of the suicide. On the day of March seventeenth, two days before Kari had ended things with Davis, a man with short brown hair, sunglasses, and three scars on his left cheek that suggested a scratch attacked Kari. Had Gatomon, Tai, and Tai's Digimon Agumon not intervened, the man might have done unspeakable things to Kari. The assailant was not caught unfortunately, though the attack was reported to the police who later told Kari and Tai that the man in question was responsible for attacking a few other girls in the past. As a precaution, Gatomon and Tai had convinced Kari to take self-defense classes, but it seemed very possible for that man to have kidnapped Kari.

The police agreed with that theory, but told the group that it also meant the possibility of the assailant killing Kari when he was through with her. Still, it was a lead that the authorities could follow, but as more time passed the lead became cold. And soon the police had more or less given up. Most of the Digidestined had given up too, even Tai. They had to face the fact that Kari was gone, for it seemed that she had vanished into thin air. There was one among the Digidestined who could not accept that, and that was T.K.

T.K. didn't at all buy the theories about suicide or about Kari running away. The kidnapping theory seemed plausible, but the blond Digidestined did not think that the person or persons who kidnapped Kari were human. T.K. could not forget the incident from many years ago when Kari somehow slipped into a realm called The Dark Ocean. Nor could he forget about the creatures that wanted Kari for a disgusting and unspeakable purpose, or of the mention of an undersea god that the creatures worshipped. The Digidestined had not done anything about those creatures, so it seemed possible that they might try to take Kari again.

None of the Digidestied group really gave much thought about The Dark Ocean, especially after the death of MaloMyotismon, the evil Digimon that tried to conquer both worlds. After that incident, peace came and The Dark Ocean was all but forgotten. But that did not mean that The Dark Ocean had actually vanished. Its evil remained, waiting calmly and patiently for the right moment to burst forth from its own realm and destroy everything. T.K. thought that perhaps that moment finally came, and that Kari had become its first victim.

Of course T.K. did not fully believe that The Dark Ocean had in fact taken Kari again. For there was nothing to indicate that it did. Yet the night after Kari had disappeared, T.K. had begun to have strange and troubling dreams. He could not quite remember just what the dreams were about precisely, only that he would wake up with vague impressions of water and strange fish. The dreams did disturb T.K.'s sleep, that fact was certain. He had not gotten a full night's sleep since Kari vanished, though at first T.K. only thought that it was because he was worried about her.

As time went on however, the dreams became more and more vivid, and T.K. felt as if he could remember more about them each time. Though a part of him didn't want to remember. For there was something so terrible about the dreams that he thought it was best that it be left unknown. Yet T.K. could feel that there was something important about the dreams, something that he desperately needed to remember. And he was also sure that whatever it was had to do with Kari.

As for why T.K. began looking out over the ocean and contemplating its mysteries, he could not entirely say. In fact it seemed to T.K. that he was looking for something out over the waves, something he could not quite place. After a time the blond Digidestined had come to the conclusion that it was Kari he was looking for out on the ocean, which made him believe even more that Kari was in fact trapped at an ocean far separated form both the human world and the Digital World. Again, T.K. had no proof that Kari was in that wretched place, but as dark as the idea was, he hoped that she was there, for he could not bare the idea of Kari just being gone.

The simple fact was that T.K. had been in love with Kari for many years. They had always been good friends, but in high school T.K. noticed that his feelings for her had changed. He had started to notice how attractive Kari had become physically. At first T.K. tried to deny those feelings, saying that it was wrong to have such feelings for one who he considered a close friend. But as T.K. thought more about his feelings for Kari, he began to realize that they were more than physical. He was attracted to everything about Kari, her smile and her kind heart. T.K. felt like he was complete when he was around Kari.

Sadly, T.K. never told Kari how he felt about her. He wanted to of course, but he was afraid. Not only was he afraid that Kari did not feel the same way about him, but T.K. feared that if the relationship didn't work out for whatever reason, it would destroy their friendship as well. T.K. did try several times to tell Kari how he felt about her, but each time he had chickened out. He kept telling himself that he would tell Kari how he felt about her another time, that he had all the time in the world. Then the unthinkable happened.

It was quite a surprise to everyone in the Digidestined group. No one thought that it would actually happen. But it did, Kari started going out with Davis. Davis had been attracted to Kari since the first time he saw her, and for many years he tried to get Kari to go out with him, and for many years Kari kept rejecting him. But then one day in high school the teacher had assigned both Davis and Kari to work on a project together. As T.K. had heard the two had apparently gotten a little closer while working on it. Then when it was done Davis had asked Kari out on a date, and Kari said yes. After that first date came several more and soon the two were an actual item. It was unbelievable to the Digidestined to say the least. Most of them thought that the sun had a better chance of imploding into a black hole. Yet the unbelievable had happened, and T.K. was devastated.

When Davis and Kari first started going out, T.K. kept telling himself that it wouldn't last more than a week. Then a week passed and he started telling himself that it wouldn't last more than a month. Then a month passed, then a year, and then Kari and Davis took the big step of moving into the same apartment together. It seemed to T.K. that he had screwed up on his one chance at happiness. But he was glad that Kari was happy, and that was the most important thing.

That happiness seemed to be short-lived however, as three months ago Davis had cheated on Kari for the first time. Who the girl was wasn't important to T.K., all that mattered to him was that Kari was hurt, and he wanted to kill Davis for hurting her. T.K.'s older brother Matt held him back though, and he was probably right to do so. Besides, Tai had already beaten him to the punch. It seemed however that T.K. once again had a shot with Kari, but then another unbelievable event happened.

Not more than a week after Kari ended things with Davis did she take him back. It was an act that defied all logic. T.K. wanted to say something, but he was afraid that if he did Kari would begin to hate him. So for Kari's sake he kept quiet. Then a month later, Davis cheated on Kari again, this time with a different girl. And again, Kari broke it off, but then for some incomprehensible reason Kari took him back. T.K. was furious, for Kari deserved far better than Davis. To T.K., Davis didn't even deserve to be the gum stuck to the bottom of Kari's shoe.

Then on the day of March nineteenth, Kari had found out that Davis had cheated on her yet again. And that time she made it very clear that she and Davis were through for good. A part of T.K. jumped for joy when he had heard the news. But of course his main concern was Kari's feelings. He wanted desperately to finally tell her his feelings for her, but he knew that Kari needed some time. So T.K. decided to keep quiet, but once again that had proven to be a mistake, because a few days later, Kari had disappeared.

Since that time, T.K. went through life as sort of a walking corpse. He went to his college classes, his job, and he still played on the collage basketball team. But there was no meaning behind any of those tasks, or behind anything really. Without Kari his world had become dead. And were it not for the strange dreams and the expectations of those around him, T.K. would probably not have even bothered getting out of bed every morning.

At last T.K. noticed that the sun was beginning to set, and he decided that he should return home. His Digimon partner Patamon would be worried about him. The little hamster-like Digimon with bat-wing ears was perhaps the only thing that kept T.K. going. He was perhaps T.K.'s closest friend, and the only one besides Matt who knew how T.K. felt about Kari. So with another pointless day complete, T.K. turned away from the ocean and began walking to the old beat-up car that his father gave him when he graduated from high school.

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><p>Patamon sat on his usual perch by the window as the sun set. He was waiting to see T.K.'s car pull into the parking lot. Patamon had been greatly worried about T.K. since Kari had vanished. It was clear to the Digimon that T.K. had lost his joy for life during that terrible month, and the nightmares were also a great concern. Patamon was at his wits end about what to, and T.K. wasn't his only problem. Since Kari disappeared, he and T.K. had taken in a houseguest.<p>

The houseguest in question was none other than a certain white cat Digimon that wore yellow gloves on her front paws and a golden ring on her tail. At that very moment Gatomon had walked in from the kitchen and curled up in the basket next to T.K.'s couch that she had been using as a bed since her arrival. Patamon was a little more worried about Gatomon than T.K., as the white feline seemed far more depressed. Everyday since she started living at T.K.'s she spent most of her time in that basket asleep, getting up only to get a drink of water or use the littler box that T.K. had gotten for her. Gatomon did eat some, but it was not nearly enough for Patamon's liking. Patamon decided to make one more attempt to get Gatomon out of bed. He flew down from his perch by the window to Gatomon's basket.

"Hey Gatomon." Patamon greeted in his usual cheerful tone.

"What do you want now?" Gatomon responded in a tone that said that she didn't want to be disturbed.

"Well, there's a beautiful sunset out side." Patamon began. "I was thinking that maybe you would like to see it."

"Go away!" Gatomon replied. She had not opened her eyes once since Patamon started speaking to her.

Patamon could see that he wasn't going to get anywhere with her. It was just like every evening before since that month began, and it got worse when everyone had more or less called off the search. Of course Patamon understood Gatomon's depression. Gatomon felt that she had failed in her duty to protect Kari, and Patamon knew that he would feel the same way if it were T.K. that had disappeared. Defeated once again, Patamon flew back up to his perch to watch for T.K. to come home.

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><p>In another part of Tokyo, Davis sat on the couch staring blankly at the television set. He didn't really remember what was on; he wasn't paying that much attention. Whatever it was it looked like an American Western. At least his Digimon Veemon seemed to be enjoying it. The little blue-green and white dragon sat on the couch next to Davis eating popcorn. Davis found that he couldn't focus on anything. He was too wracked with depression and guilt over what happened with Kari.<p>

Davis couldn't place exactly when or how it happened, when he had made that first mistake. Things had been going great with Kari in high school, but when the two had moved in together, Davis started feeling a bit restless. Then one night a buddy of his had invited him to a party where he ran into this girl. She was beautiful, she had black hair, blue eyes, and she was definitely what some might call "fit". Plus this girl had a bust that was more than ample.

Davis definitely noticed that girl, and the girl had also noticed Davis. She came onto him, and at first Davis resisted. But the girl was persistent, and Davis had had a few drinks. And the next thing Davis knew, he and that girl were going at it like rabbits. It was nothing serious of course, only a mere fling, but it was still wrong. Then one evening Davis had taken that girl to the apartment and Kari walked in on them just as the girl had taken her shirt off.

Davis had never heard Kari yell at him so loud, and when she was done she kicked Davis out right on the spot. He and Veemon spent a week at the apartment of Davis's friend and fellow Digidestined, Ken Ichijouji. After that week, Davis week back to Kari on his hands and knees and begged her to take her back, and miraculously she did. It was amazing how forgiving Kari had been. Davis was a lucky guy, but then he screwed it all up again.

It was another party, another girl, another few drinks and flattering compliments, and the next thing Davis knew he was back at the apartment with that girl when Kari had walked in on them. That time the only thing that happened was that Davis and this second girl had exchanged massive amounts of saliva, but it was still just as wrong, and Kari was just as furious. So Kari kicked Davis out again, and again Davis stayed at Ken's. Then Davis once more went back to beg Kari for forgiveness. That time, Davis was sure that Kari wouldn't take him back, but for some reason she did. It was clear to Davis that time that he didn't deserve someone like Kari.

And yet after a little time passed, Davis went to another party, had a few more drinks, and met another pretty girl who came onto him. And once again Davis had taken that girl to his apartment. Only that time he and that girl had made it as far as the bedroom when Kari walked in on them. That was the last straw; Kari had kicked Davis out for good. He had gone too far the first time, but that third time was simply unforgivable.

Davis went back to Ken's as he had no place else to go. Then a few days later Kari vanished. Davis joined in on the frantic search of the Digital World, thinking that some evil Digimon might have kidnapped Kari. Of course Davis had to stay out of Tai's way, as Kari's older brother wanted to kill him 1,000 times over. Davis thought that they must've searched the entire Digital World three times, but they didn't find any trace of Kari.

Not long after the search, Davis heard the campus gossip about Kari committing suicide, and for some reason Davis believed it. He had noticed that something was bothering Kari before his third and most epic case of infidelity. Of course Davis knew about the stress Kari had been under with her classes and at her job. But Davis felt that there was something more than that, something just under the surface that she wouldn't talk about.

What ever that creeping unknown thing was though, it seemed to Davis that it was almost too much for Kari to take, and his final act of infidelity had sent her over the edge. Not only was Davis convinced that Kari had killed herself, but he felt that he had killed her as if he had taken a sword and stabbed her through the heart. He felt like a murderer, and that feeling sent Davis into a depression that caused him to just sit and stay on Ken's couch for about a month. He stopped showing up for classes, and at his part-time job. Day in and day out Davis just stayed on that couch, and there didn't seem to be much that could take him off of it.

The door to the apartment opened, and in walked Ken and his girlfriend, Yolei Inoue. Yolei and Ken had been dating for years, and they had decided that they would get married after they graduated from college. But they decided to go ahead and start living together, as Ken had gotten a rather large place and Yolei was having trouble finding a place of her own. Accompanying both of them were Ken's Digimon partner, the caterpillar-like Wormmon, and Yolei's partner, the eagle-like Hawkmon. Ken and Yolei walked around to face Davis, while the two Digimon joined Veemon on the couch.

"Hey buddy, how've you been doing today?" Ken greeted in the most cheerful tone he could manage.

"…Okay…" was Davis's only replied, his blank eyes still fixed to the T.V. screen.

"…So Davis, Ken and I were just talking and we were thinking that it's time you moved into your own place." Yolei said in her most insincere smile. "What you think?"

Davis's only response was some incoherent mumbling. Yolei's false smile vanished in a flash, and with a huff she stormed into the kitchen. Ken quickly followed after her. Davis's continued presence in the Ichijouji residence had caused much tension between Ken and Yolei, tension that was steadily getting worse. From the living room Davis and the three Digimon could hear them fighting.

"How long is he just going to sit there doing nothing?" Yolei yelled from the kitchen.

"We have to be patient, he's taken Kari's disappearance pretty hard." Ken rebutted.

"We've been patient for a month now, and my patience has just about run out Ken!" Yolei yelled back. "He had better get out of here soon, or else!"

With that, Yolei stormed out of the kitchen to the bedroom. Davis did notice the argument, but he was feeling too miserable to care.

"Their fighting is getting pretty bad, huh?" Veemon asked his human partner. Davis only remained silent and stared blankly at the T.V. screen.

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><p>Review and let me know what you think.<p> 


	3. Home by the Sea

**Author's Note:** This chapter picks up right from where the prologue left off. Also, the song used for the title of this chapter, and the whole story for that matter, is from the Genesis album: Genesis, and is the song that inspired it all.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 2: "Home by the Sea"<p>

Kari could not believe what had happened. She was back at the Dark Ocean, yet she was awake. There was no denying that fact, and what was worse was she seemed to be trapped in an area of the Dark Ocean that she knew nothing about. Kari was trapped in a room that looked like a room that one might find in a quant bed and breakfast. It was a spacious room to be sure, but it was in the same state of extreme decay that that foul village on the beach was in.

Kari took a few moments to try to calm down. The rational part of her, which still seemed to be intact despite the situation, told her that freaking out would do no good. Kari sat back down on the dingy bed that she had first found herself on to try and figure out what to do. She knew that a locked door blocked her only exit. Her first thought was to use something in the room to try and break the door down, but there wasn't much in the room to use. The only things in the room were a bed, a nightstand, and an old rust-covered lamp that Kari was sure didn't work. As for the adjoining bathroom, Kari was reasonably certain that there wouldn't be much of anything in there that would be of use.

Then another terrifying thought had crossed Kari's mind. She realized that even if she did manage to break down the door, there was a good chance that she would run into _those creatures._ Kari did not know what those things were exactly. When she first saw them they appeared to be regular Digimon that were being weakened by the Dark Spiral devices that were created by her friend Ken when he was the evil and tyrannical Digimon Emperor. When the spirals were removed though, they changed into something else. The creatures grew taller and became some sort of loathsome combination of fish and frog. Their skin also had some quality that made them look like living shadows. One could assume that such a quality was a form of camouflage, but it made them even more terrifying to behold. Aside from their general outline, the only physical feature of the things that could clearly be seen was there glassy sunken eyes.

After Kari had unwittingly freed the creatures from their restraints, an action which she since regretted doing, the creatures expressed a desire to have Kari to produce powerful offspring for them. And Kari knew what unspeakable horror would be involved with that act. There was no question in Kari's mind that those creatures would have _had their way with her_ had Gatomon not had been able to transform into her evolved form of Angewomon. But now Kari was alone, and there was a good chance that a few of those creatures were roaming the halls. Kari did not want to think about what might happen in those narrow hallways if she took a wrong turn and hit a dead end.

Of course it seemed that Kari was already in that situation anyway. There was very little that could stop the creatures from just unlocking the door and coming in. Kari did consider the window, but the view seemed to indicate that she was clearly not on the first floor. Even so, Kari decided that if things got really bad, she could use the nightstand or bed to block the door and slow the creatures down, then break the window and take her chances. It was a better option than… well… she didn't want to think about it.

Kari's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sound of wood sliding against wood. She looked in the direction where the sound was coming from and saw that at the bottom of the door to her room was a sort of small hatch no bigger than a cat door. A metal tray slid through the open hatch before it closed. Kari walked over to the door to examine both the tray and the hatch. The hatch didn't look like it was locked in any way, but it was far too small for Kari to fit through. Plus there was the thought of just what might have opened that hatch from the outside.

As for the tray, it had on it a small tin cup containing water and something that could barely be considered as food. From the smell Kari determined the "meal" to be some kind of fish. It also looked like the fish had been cooked in some rudimentary way, perhaps over a fire as some of it looked to be burned. The dish seemed to have been left out for a while, as it was only lukewarm, and it was covered in some kind of sauce that made the thing look even more unappealing. After a good deal of contemplation, Kari decided that while it probably couldn't be considered food, it was probably at least edible.

Kari was somewhat glad that her captors were at least feeding her to some extent, though it also meant that they were planning to keep her there for some time. Even so, it seemed that the creatures weren't planning to bust into the room and use her for their twisted purposes anytime soon. At least that's what Kari hoped. She was doing her best to remain positive, but it was practically impossible to do that in her current environment. The Dark Ocean was where despair and fear reigned supreme.

Deciding that she needed to keep her strength up, Kari reluctantly decided to eat as much of the fish meat as possible. Not only was the fish lukewarm, but also the sauce seemed to give it an unpleasant bitterness. Still, Kari forced herself to eat as much as she could, downing her cup of water in one gulp to both try and get rid of the aftertaste but also to keep it down. As for the tray, Kari noticed that the hatch on the door had a handle on her side. Fearing that whatever brought her the tray might come back for it, Kari opened the hatch and pushed the tray back through as quickly as possible in fear that something might grab her hand.

With her sorry excuse for a meal done, Kari decided to lie down on the bed and think. She wanted to figure out just how and why she had ended up back at The Dark Ocean. Whatever the reason and method, Kari knew that her dreams, her nightmares, had something to do with it. She had been dreaming about The Dark Ocean since around the same time she started college and her part-time job. Though at the time Kari believed, or rather wanted to believe, that the dreams were nothing more than the result of stress from what was going on in her life.

Things had started out wonderfully for Kari. After she and her then boyfriend Davis had graduated from high school, they had managed to find a nice yet cheap apartment big enough for both of them to move into, much to the dismay of Kari's older brother Tai. Both Kari and Davis had managed get part-time jobs fairly quickly, she working at a coffee shop and Davis working at a video rental place. With a steady part-time job, a decent place to live, and a loving boyfriend, Kari felt that the world was her oyster. And she thought that things could only get better with college starting. Unfortunately things did not turn out that way.

The classes that Kari had chosen for her first semester had an intense workload, and her professors were not the most helpful in the world. In fact one of them seemed to take some perverse pleasure in making her feel stupid. As for Kari's job, her boss was a ruthless task master who berated Kari for even the tiniest mistake or even being late for work by only a few seconds, punishing her often by making her stay extra hours that severely cut into her study time. It was not long after all of this stress had started though when the dreams began. They were only unsettling at first, Kari only remembered walking along that grey beach under that gloomy sky to a destination that she knew nothing about. It was enough to wake her up in the middle of the night, and the middle of the night was when she would go to bed with all the work she had to do.

Kari told no one about the dreams, not even Gatomon. At the time she hoped that they were only dreams and nothing more, and she was afraid that if she did tell someone, then it meant that they weren't just dreams and that The Dark Ocean really was trying to take her away again. So Kari kept quiet about them. Between the dreams, her classes, and her job, Kari didn't think that her life couldn't get any worse. Then the trouble with Davis began.

It had barely been a month since Davis and Kari had moved in together. Kari had returned home from an exhausting day only to find Davis on the couch with some big-breasted dark-haired bimbo wearing nothing but a lace bra and a pink miniskirt. Gatomon and Veemon were with Kari at the time, the two Digimon had gone to meet Kari after her long shift at the coffee shop. Kari was so hurt and betrayed by what Davis had done that naturally she threw Davis out on the spot. Her job might have been terrible, but at least it paid well, and she going to college on a scholarship so she could afford to pay the rent on the apartment on her own.

So for a time, it was just Kari and Gatomon in the apartment. But then Davis came back and begged Kari to forgive him and take him back. At first Kari was all set to pound Davis into the ground, but when she looked into those brown puppy-dog eyes and saw the tears flowing down Davis's face, she was finding it harder and harder to stay mad at him. Then Davis went on to tell Kari about how miserable he was without her and how he promised to never let it happen again. Kari wanted to believe that promise, and it did hurt her to see Davis so miserable. After all, despite what Davis had done Kari still had feelings for him. So against her better judgment, Kari took Davis back, though he slept on the couch for quite some time.

Kari was still miserable at both her job and college, and the nightmares had gotten worse, but at least things with Davis were a little better, or so she thought. Then about a month later she, Gatomon, and Veemon once again walked into the apartment to find Davis with another girl. This girl was fully clothed, but her tongue was jammed into Davis's mouth, indicating that it wouldn't have been long before things had gotten hotter between Davis and his "new friend". Kari was once again hurt, but even more so because Davis had broken his promise. Right then and there, Kari threw Davis out again.

After that incident, the dreams had gotten worse, more vivid. Before they were just images, but after kicking Davis out a second time Kari felt like she was actually at that accursed ocean of horror. A week later Davis had come back, once again begging Kari for forgiveness. That time Davis told Kari that the girl had come onto him and that he tried very hard to resist. Though Kari asked if that were true then why was the girl even at the apartment, why did Davis just not leave her at whatever keg party he had found her. Davis's excuse was that the girl didn't believe that he lived in such a nice apartment and wanted to see it for herself. Kari thought that it was a pretty flimsy excuse, but for some reason she decided to give Davis one more chance.

Looking back on it from where she was in that decaying hotel room of the dammed, Kari thought that perhaps she gave Davis another chance was because she wanted him to protect her from the terror of those nightmares. Whatever the reason though, things had gotten a little better again. But then another month passed, and when Kari came back to the apartment she found Davis actually in bed with another girl. In that moment, Kari knew that she and Davis were finished for good. There was no going back after Davis had done something so unforgivable. He could beg, plead, and cry all he wanted, but there was no going back.

After that, Kari thought that things had gotten as bad as they could get. At least until the day after Davis had been kicked out for the last time when a scared man in sunglasses attacked her, and had Tai and Gatomon not been there there's no telling what would've happened. Kari agreed to take self-defense training after that incident. She actually found it very therapeutic to pretend that her sparing partner was Davis. Things were still pretty bad though, with the nightmares becoming worse and worse.

Then one afternoon Kari came back to the apartment after an exhausting day of classes. Gatomon was out hunting rats so she was alone at the time. Kari plopped onto the couch and dozed off. Then she had the nightmare where she saw the thing that those fish-frog creatures worshipped as a god, and when Kari woke up she was in that hotel of decay at The Dark Ocean. Worse yet, she was alone.

Kari got up from the bed, deciding that the how and why she had once again been brought to The Dark Ocean wasn't important at the moment. The only thing that mattered was escaping, or at least surviving. Quickly Kari rethought her plan of escaping through the window and decided that it would be a good emergency plan. Since she wasn't in immediate danger though, she decided to just wait and hope that her friends and brother would come to her rescue. So as it seemed like she was going to be staying in that room for a while, Kari decided to see how livable the place was and checked out the bathroom.

The bathroom was relatively small compared to the main room, but it was just as empty. Kari did find a light switch next to the door, but when she tried it she found that the lights didn't work, not that she was surprised. The room did contain the basic elements of a bathroom, a toilet, a sink, a bathtub, and a shower. There was also a mirror over the sink, but it was severely cracked and broken. The first order of business was to check if the toilet actually worked. Kari walked to it and gave it a test flush, and she breathed a sigh of relief when it worked normally.

Confident that the toilet was at least functional, Kari checked the sink. She tried the knob for cold water and was relieved to find that the faucet at least produced water. Of course the knob for hot water did nothing. But the important thing was that the sink at least functioned to an extent. Kari also noticed a rather large bar of soap next to the faucet, which surprisingly looked fairly new. With the toilet and sink fully tried out, Kari decided to check the bath and shower. She tried the shower first. It made a few rattling noises but nothing more. Kari tried the faucet in the bathtub. The only thing it produced was a thick black sludge.

Kari was rather dismayed by the idea of using the sink to bathe, but it seemed that she didn't have a choice. It also dawned on Kari that the only cloths that she had to wear were the cloths on her back, so she would have to repeatedly wash them as well. She prayed with all her might that she would be rescued soon, but Kari couldn't help but feel that she was going to be there for quite some time. After all, Kari knew that it was often hard for someone to come to The Dark Ocean on purpose. With nothing else to do, Kari went back lie on the bed.

After what had probably been a few hours of staring at the ceiling, Kari fell asleep. But she was quickly roused by a terrible sound outside the door to her prison. The sound in question was some sort of terrible croaking noise. There were several more that followed it, each one a little different from the last. In a horrifying moment of realization, Kari knew that the sounds were none other than the croaking of one of the fish-frog creatures speaking in its own horrid tongue. From what Kari could tell, the voice seemed upset about something. The voice was soon joined by another set of croaking sounds that were deeper in tone. That meant that there were at least two of the creatures out there, and it seemed to Kari that they were arguing about something.

What the creatures were arguing about, Kari had an idea, but she dared not to think about it. Her body tensed in readiness to fight off whatever might come through that door. Though in her mind Kari knew that she would not be able to fight the creatures off. The inhuman voices suddenly stopped talking and the sounds of a violent struggle that lasted only a few minutes. Then there was silence.

It was quite some time before Kari relaxed again, but it was clear that the creatures weren't going to come bursting in anytime soon. Eventually though, Kari did let down her guard some and went back to sleep, but it was not a sound one. She woke up every now and then thinking that she had heard one of the creatures outside her door, only to find out that it was nothing more than the sound of the ancient building settling. There were instances too when she did hear the horrid croaking again, but they more faint, suggesting that they were down the hallway. Although to Kari that didn't make her feel any better.

It was impossible for Kari to tell how much time had passed in that horrid room. The constant grey twilight of the sky outside her window made it impossible to tell when one day would end and another would begin. Plus there was no clock in that room, though Kari was sure that if there was it would be in the same nonfunctional state of decay as the lamp on the nightstand. The other thing that made telling time practically impossible was the irregular sleeping pattern that Kari had adopted to stay alert. It was impossible to sleep soundly in a constant state of fear.

It had become clear to Kari though that quite a lot of time had passed however. There were several times when a tray of the same disgusting fishmeal had been shoved though the panel of the door. And there were a few times when Kari felt that she had to wash herself and her cloths in the sink. The black t-shirt and khaki shorts that Kari had worn when she first arrived in the room had slowly started to fade. If Kari had to guess she thought that she had been in that room for at least more than a week, though she was not entirely sure.

The only thing that was keeping Kari going was the hope that she would be rescued. But as more time passed that hope grew dimmer and dimmer. Every time that Kari had looked out the window that was the room's only source of light and saw that grey sky it was like a dagger in her heart. Each time that she fell asleep Kari hoped to wake up home at her apartment. But every time when she woke up she was crushed by the horrible reality that she was trapped in that accursed home by the sea.

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><p>So that's what happened to Kari during the month she was missing. Review and let me know what you think.<p> 


	4. Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away

**Author's Note:** Only two days since I first posted this story and I'm already adding a new chapter. Well the reason this chapter is being added so soon is because I felt that it was kind of a daunting chapter to write, so I wanted to get it done sooner rather than later. Anyway, the song used for the title of this chapter is from what I believe is Phil Collin's first solo album: Hello, I Must Be Going. It's actually one of the three best songs on that album in my opinion.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away"<p>

Tai Kamiya entered his apartment with a weary expression on his face. It had been a long day at his job as an intern, buried by a mountain of meaningless paperwork that for some unfathomable reason had to be completed before the end of the business day. After setting his briefcase next to the door, Tai walked into the living room of his small apartment as he loosened his necktie. The site that greeted Tai when he entered the room was the usual one. Sitting on the couch was the small orange t-rex-like creature that was Tai's Digimon Agumon. Agumon was watching T.V. and eating a sandwich that he had managed to make for himself despite having only rudimentary claws for thumbs.

"Hey buddy." Tai greeted as he plopped onto the couch beside the reptile Digimon.

"Hey Tai." Agumon greeted back in his usual friendly tone. "How was work?"

"Oh it was so fun I didn't want to leave." Tai answered sarcastically. "…Did I get any calls?"

"Well, you did get a call from your mother a few hours ago," the Digimon began, "but if you're really asking if you got a call from Sora, I'm afraid the answer is no."

Tai looked down at the floor with a sad expression. He and his girlfriend and fellow Digidestined, Sora Takenouchi, had been fighting ever since Kari had disappeared. Their last fight was the worst though. It had only been a week ago, but Tai didn't even remember what their fight was about. At the end of it though, after Tai had cooled down a bit, he regretted many of the things he had said and tried repeatedly to apologize to Sora. Unfortunately, Sora was not speaking to Tai. He repeatedly tried calling both her home phone and cell but she wouldn't answer. Tai also tried talking to Sora on her lunch breaks at the place she worked one time. Sora ended up dumping her glass of soda over Tai's head. Of course Sora had done that before when she was mad at Tai, but there was an added hint of malice in that last dumping. It was very clear to Tai that his relationship with Sora was in deep trouble.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Agumon chimed in, snapping Tai out of his thoughts. "Why don't you and I go out tonight and hang out somewhere?"

Tai thought about Agumon's suggestion. It had been awhile since he had cut loose and relaxed. It had been a hard month due to Kari's disappearance and his problems with Sora. As for taking Agumon out in public, a Digimon that appeared in public without causing a major panic was becoming a more common site. And Tai did welcome the idea of something to take his mind off of his problems.

"Sure, why not?" Tai finally answered with a smile. "We'll go out a bit later."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Sora was in her car driving to meet up with T.K.'s older brother Matt, who was just finishing up a recording session with his old band, the Teen-Aged Wolves. Sora wanted to talk to someone about the problems she had been having with Tai, and with her friend and fellow Digidestined Mimi in North America and Yolei having her own problems to deal with, Matt seemed to be the only one left to talk to. In truth though, Sora had always felt that she could talk to Matt about anything. Sitting in the front seat of Sora's car was a large pink and blue tropical bird. This was Sora's Digimon, Biyomon.<p>

"You sure you don't mind me tagging along Sora?" Biyomon asked.

"Of course not." Sora said with a smile. "Actually I'm really glad that you're coming with. I'm kinda nervous about seeing Matt."

"Nervous?" the bird Digimon asked, cocking her head to the side. "But you've talked with Matt several times. Why are you nervous?"

"I'm not really sure myself actually." Sora replied. "This time just feels different for some reason."

Biyomon looked closely at the face of her redheaded human partner, tilting her head from one side to the other as she examined the serious expression on Sora's face.

"Well, you know I'm always will to help if you need me." Biyomon said as she turned her head back to look out the window.

"Thanks Biyomon." Sora replied, giving the bird another smile.

After a few moments of silence, the two finally reached the recording studio where Matt and his band were having their session. As she pulled into the parking lot, Sora saw Matt out by the front door talking to a couple of the members of his old band. Next to Matt was a short yellow reptilian creature that wore a white wolf pelt with black stripes as a sort of mask. A single horn protruded from the creature's forehead through the pelt. This of course was Matt's Digimon partner Gabumon. Finding the closest available space to pull into, Sora got out of her car and began walking toward Matt, with Biyomon flying close behind.

"Hey Matt." Sora called out, getting the blonde's attention.

"Oh, hey." Matt greeted back. At that point, the two members of Matt's band excused themselves and left.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything." Sora said with a nervous smile.

"Nah, the guys and I were just catching up on old times." Matt replied.

Sora took a moment to take a good look at Matt. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a black tank top that had his band's logo on it. That outfit combined Matt's wild blond hair made him look quite handsome. Of course Sora had been attracted to Matt since high school, but back then it did quite work out. Plus she also had feelings for Tai, and since then she and Matt remained good friends. However, seeing Matt in that rock-star left Sora speechless.

"So you wanted to talk about something?" Matt asked, snapping Sora out of her thoughts.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Sora replied, trying to regain her composure.

"We can go to that park across the street if you want." Matt suggested.

"That'd be great." Sora replied, smiling in agreement.

A few moments later, Matt and Sora were walking through the small park across from the studio. Gabumon and Biyomon meanwhile had gone off somewhere to chat on their own. Sora had wished that the two Digimon had stuck around though. She somehow felt that without Biyomon there as a chaperone she would lose control of herself. A month ago this would not have been a concern, but with her relationship with Tai being what it was, Sora felt that things were now different. Finally both Matt and Sora stopped on a bridge over a small stream in the park.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Matt asked, finally breaking the somewhat awkward silence between them.

"…Tai and I had another fight." Sora finally said with a sad expression on her face.

"I see…" Matt responded, his expression becoming serious. "What was it about?"

"I don't even remember." Sora answered. "But it was the worst fight we've ever had."

"Have you talked to Tai since the fight?" Matt asked.

"I can't bring myself to." Sora replied sadly. "I've tried, but I just can't deal with Tai's anger anymore. I mean I know he's still dealing with Kari's disappearance, but I just take anymore."

"We've all taken Kari's disappearance pretty hard." Matt responded as he turned around to lean against the railing of the bridge. "I know T.K. has."

"That's true. Both he and Kari were really good friends." Sora added.

"It's a little more complicated than that." Matt said getting Sora's undivided attention. "Truth is, T.K. has had a thing for Kari since high school."

"Are you serious?" Sora said with a tone of utter surprise. Matt replied with a nod. "Wow, why didn't T.K. ever tell Kari how he felt?"

"You know how shy T.K. can be sometimes." Matt answered. "Plus he was afraid that Kari didn't feel the same way that he did, or that if she did and their relationship didn't work out, their friendship would be ruined. I kept telling him to take the risk, but he kept chickening out. The Davis swooped in and… well, you know the rest."

"…Poor T.K." was the only thing that Sora could think of to say. The revelation about Kari and T.K. was something that she did not expect.

"I'm pretty worried about him." Matt continued. "Ever since we stopped looking for Kari he's been keeping to himself, throwing himself too hard into his schoolwork and job, and last time I visited him Patamon mentioned that he hadn't been sleeping well."

"Is there something we can do?" Sora asked.

"I talked to my parents about it, and they said if this goes on we should get T.K. in to see some professional help." Matt replied with a hint of grimness in his voice. "But we were talking about you and Tai."

"Oh yeah." Sora responded, reminded of the unpleasant reason that she has wanted to talk to Matt in the first place.

"Don't you think that you should give Tai another chance?" Matt asked as he turned to stand face to face with Sora. "I mean, he kinda needs you right now."

"I know that!" Sora yelled, startling Matt. "I've tried being supportive, I've tried being there for him, but I just can't do it anymore."

Matt was at a loss for words. He had no idea that things between Tai and Sora had gotten so bad. Meanwhile, tears were starting to well up in Sora's eyes.

"The truth is…" Sora began, "Tai and I have been having problems even since before Kari disappeared. It started out as mostly little stuff, but over time it got worse. Then when Kari vanished, it kept getting worse and worse and… I think it's now over between me and Tai."

"Well… if that's the case, then you should leave him." Matt said with a gentle smile. "It isn't right for you to stay with Tai if it hurts you so much."

"Thanks Matt, I just needed to hear that from you." Sora said as a smile returned to her face. With that, Matt brought his hand to Sora's cheek to wipe away a few tears, causing Sora to blush. "Uh, say Matt, have you ever been attracted to me?"

"W-What?" Matt said in a startled tone, quickly pulling his hand away from Sora's cheek, his normally cool and calm demeanor somewhat broken.

"I mean uh…" Sora said with a blush as she realized what she had just said and tried to think of something to change the subject. "Are, are you doing anything tonight?"

"Um, tonight?" Matt asked nervously as he tried to regain his composure. "I don't think so. Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go out tonight." Sora said nervously. "You know, just as friends."

"Oh, as friends." Matt replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Um, I guess we could do that tonight. What place did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking we could try that French place called The Golden Swan." Sora answered. "My parents know the owner, so I could have them call and get us reservations no problem."

"Isn't that restaurant a little pricy?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, but don't worry. I can cover it." Sora answered.

"Um, okay, sure." Matt replied. "Mind if I pick you up at 8:00?"

"8:00 is fine with me." Sora answered with a grin.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you then." Matt smiled back.

* * *

><p>Later that evening at his apartment, Matt was getting ready for his evening with Sora. Considering how fancy that the restaurant they were going to was known for being quite formal, Matt decided to ware the only suite that he had so far ever owned, consisting of a light grey suite with a white shirt and a powder-blue tie. As Matt finished his preparations, he kept thinking about the question that Sora had earlier about him ever being attracted to her. Even though Sora had quickly changed the subject, Matt couldn't stop thinking about the question. The honest answer was that Matt had indeed had some feelings for her, but he never really thought about them much, especially when Sora had started going out with his best friend.<p>

"Are you sure this date with Sora is a good idea?" Gabumon asked from where he was sitting on Matt's bed as he watched his human partner's preparations.

"I keep telling you Gabumon, it's not a date!" Matt said with a hint of frustration in his voice as he straightened his tie. "Sora and I are just going out as friends."

"If that's true, why did you put on the cologne that you only use when you're going out with a hot girl?" the wolf pelt wearing Digimon asked.

"I'm gonna be late. I'll see you later Gabumon." Matt said as he calmly stormed out of the room in an attempt to ignore Gabumon's question.

About twenty minutes later, Matt had arrived at Sora's apartment and knocked on the door. The site that greeted Matt when Sora opened the door took his breath away. It was Sora wearing a sleeveless sparkling sapphire dress complete with light blue gloves that reached passed the elbows and a blue silk scarf. The whole outfit seemed to extenuate Sora's shoulder length red hair, which was tied back in a bun. Matt could also smell Sora's perfume, which gave her the sent of cherry blossoms.

"Wow, you look… wow." Those were the only words that Matt could think of to say. His mind was completely blown by Sora's appearance.

"You ready to go?" Sora asked.

"Uh, yeah." Matt replied, finally being snapped out of his trance. He stepped out of the way to let Sora pass.

"You smell nice." Sora mentioned as she passed by Matt through the door, causing the blond Digidestined to blush.

The car ride to the restaurant was filled with an awkward silence. Matt couldn't understand why he was so nervous. It had become clear to Matt though that he was indeed out on a date, there was no more denying it. Even so, it had hardly been Matt's first date. Though he could also not deny that Sora was different from any other girl he had dated. Sora was someone that Matt had been a friend with for years.

There was also a part of Matt that kept telling him that what he and Sora were doing was wrong. After all, Sora was still technically Tai's girlfriend. She had made it clear to Matt when they had talked earlier that afternoon that her relationship with Tai was over for her. But as far as Matt knew, Sora had not officially broken it off with Tai, and Matt did not like the idea of going out with his best friend's girlfriend behind his back. In spite of all that, Matt could also not deny that there was also a part of him that had been in love with Sora for some time, a part that he had just discovered. And he was afraid that the part of him that was in love was stronger than the part telling him he shouldn't be doing this.

At last Matt and Sora arrived at the Golden Swan. Once they were ushered to their table, they found that the awkward silence between them was broken. They found themselves talking and laughing about old times, about how they had repeatedly saved the Digital World from evil, and a few other things. After they had finished dinner though, the silence had returned, and the two realized that the time had come to deal with the issue of how they really felt about each other. The problem was that both of them were very reluctant to bring it up.

"So Matt…" Sora began as she looked nervously down at the table, not quite being able to look Matt in the eye. "Do you remember that question that I had asked you in the park this afternoon?"

"You mean that question about if I've ever been attracted to you?" Matt asked, his eyes now fixed on Sora. "Well… the truth is that I have had feelings for you, and I… I think I still do."

With those words, Sora's eyes were now completely fixed on Matt. He had gotten her undivided attention.

"I think it's only just recently that I've realized it." Matt continued. "Actually, I think I may have realized it a few years ago, but you were going out with Tai and well…"

"…I'm… glad to hear that Matt." Sora said with a kind of relieved smile. "Because the truth is… I've kind of had a crush on you for years. But you were always on the road and you had all those groupies. And then Tai came along and… I guess you know the rest."

"So… do you still have these feelings for me?" Matt asked, though he was both afraid and eager to hear what the answer might be.

"Actually…" Sora began hesitantly. "I thought I had gotten over you years ago, but now that things are pretty much over between me and Tai I've thought long and hard about how I feel about you and well… I've realized that I'm still in love with you."

Matt was absolutely stunned by what Sora had just told him. After that the two gazed at each other for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was only a minute or so. Time had slowed down in that dimly lit restaurant. Suddenly Sora slowly leaned over the table towards Matt. And very soon their faces were only inches apart.

"…We shouldn't be doing this." Matt said suddenly turning away. "I mean, what about Tai?"

"Forget Tai." Sora whispered as she gently grabbed Matt's chin and turned his face back to where he was facing her. "Right now it's just you and me."

As Matt looked into Sora's brown eyes, he knew that he could no longer resist. Their lips met, and for the two of them time stopped and the world around them faded into the distance. Unfortunately as the two were off in their own little world, Tai and Agumon had walked into the restaurant. A friend at Tai's workplace had gotten him and the dinosaur Digimon a reservation, and Agumon had always wanted to try the stake at The Golden Swan. As the two were being escorted to their table, Tai looked over and saw Matt and Sora kissing at their corner table.

As Tai looked at the couple, everything else in the room vanished. Everything except for his best friend and his girlfriend locked in a passionate kiss. Tai felt nothing in that moment except for a white-hot flame of pain, rage, and betrayal. The fame grew hotter and hotter until Tai felt like he was going to explode. At last, Tai could take no more and stormed over to Matt and Sora's table.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" Tai shouted at the top of his lungs, snapping Matt and Sora out of their own little world and at the same time causing the restaurant's other patrons to stop talking and look in their direction.

"Tai!" Matt and Sora blurted out in unison; shocked that Tai would be there at that exact moment.

"What is all of this?" Tai asked angrily, his fists clenched at his sides.

"What does it look like?" Sora asked before Matt had a chance to say anything. "Matt and I are on a date."

"A date? WITH HIM?" Tai said with a voice full of fury as he pointed at Matt.

"Tai, take it easy!" Agumon said from behind Tai in an attempt to calm his human partner down.

"…How long?" Tai asked in a somewhat calmer tone.

"How long what?" Sora asked, though she knew very well what Tai meant.

"How long have you do been going out behind my back?" Tai asked as his anger began to mount again.

"Tai, we haven't been going out behind your back. This just happened tonight." Matt said in an attempt to try and calmly explain things.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Tai shouted as he took a swing at Matt.

Matt ducked out of the way of the punch just in time. A moment later two of the waiters came and restrained Tai.

"Sir, I'm afraid that we're going to have to ask you to leave." One of the waiters said.

A moment later, Tai came back to his senses. Seeing that he was causing a scene, he calmed down enough for the waiters to let him go. Tai shot one last glare at Matt and Sora before leaving with Agumon. As soon as Tai was out of the building, the restaurant patrons went back to their meals. Matt and Sora meanwhile went ahead and asked for the check.

"I was afraid that this would happen." Matt sighed as he slumped back in his chair.

"…This doesn't change anything though, right?" Sora asked. "I mean it certainly doesn't for me."

"What about Tai?" Matt asked. "He was pretty hurt by this."

"I know. I didn't want him to find out this way." Sora said as she looked down at the table with a worried look on her face. "But it was pretty much over between him and me anyway. I'm sure once he figures that out he'll get over it."

"Yeah, but still…" Matt began.

"Matt, you and I just realized how we really feel about each other." Sora said, cutting Matt off. "We can't just go back to how things were because of Tai's feelings. At least, I don't want to. I hope that you feel the same way."

"…Yeah, you're right." Matt said with a smile as he placed his hand on Sora's. "I don't want to go back to how things were either."

* * *

><p>About half an hour later Tai returned home to his apartment and slumped onto his couch. Agumon went out onto the deck to give his human friend some space. Tai kept replaying that incident at The Golden Swan over and over again in his head trying to figure out how things could've led to Matt and Sora getting together like that. Of course Tai had known that Sora had feelings for Matt in high school, but she had given up on Matt because of his inapproachability at the time. Even so, he couldn't quite grasp why Sora would all of the sudden leave him for Matt. Sure the relationship he and Sora wasn't perfect, but every time they had had some kind of problem they were always able to work it out.<p>

Then it suddenly dawned on Tai that it was his fault that Sora had left him for Matt. He had pushed Sora away right into Matt's arms. Ever since Kari had vanished, Tai had been angry about almost everything, and without knowing it he had taken his anger out on Sora. She had become his punching bag, and it looked like Sora had just taken one hit too many. As for the reason for Tai's anger, Tai thought about it and realized that he was angry with himself for not finding Kari. And, as absurd as it sounded, Tai was also angry at Kari for vanishing, even though there was a chance that it wasn't her fault.

Whatever the reason for his anger however, Tai was no longer at all surprised that Sora had left him for Matt. It was actually quite natural that it happened really. Sora needed a friend to talk to about the problems she and Tai were having. Mat was there, old feelings got stirred up as they spent more time together, and soon enough Tai was out and Matt was in. It was all really simple when Tai thought about it. But how it happened wasn't really important. Tai knew that the important thing was to somehow make things up to Sora. As for winning Sora back, Tai had no idea how he would accomplish that but swore then and there that he would. Because the way things were in his life, Tai needed Sora more than ever.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I've never really cared either way about the whole Tai, Matt, and Sora love triangle that seemed to be present in the anime. Actually, if you paid close enough attention to the final episode of Adventure 02, you'd know that it tells us who Sora ended up with at the end. I know as fan fiction writers we do have the option of changing that stuff to our own liking. But since I don't really care either way, I see no reason to mess with the continuity provided by the anime. Anyway, in regards to this story, this whole chapter is rather minor. Its only purpose is to show how Tai was affected by Kari's disappearance. Although I guess it might have ended up being a little more Matt/Sora heavy. BUT, while this chapter is minor to this particular story, it will be significant to something I'm planing later. All I'll say right now is that I'm laying the foundation for something, so keep this chapter in mind. ;)

Well, sorry for the little diversion that this chapter might have been. The next chapter I'll be getting back to the main plot line. In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	5. Nightmare 1The Feast

**Author's Note:** This chapter ended up being pretty short, so that's why I'm adding it so soon. But while this chapter is short, it is also significant to the main plot of this story. This is also one of the few chapters in this story not named after a Phil Collins or Genesis song. The only thing thing left for me to say is, get ready for some shocking horror (that is suitable for a T rating of course).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 4: Nightmare #1-The Feast<p>

_T.K. found himself sitting at a long dining table in a large elegant room dimly lit by eerie green lights. At the moment the table was bare except for the appropriate silverware, napkins, and empty wine glasses. It was clear to him though that a feast was about to begin, as sitting around him were men dressed in black tuxedos and women in elegant gowns. Perhaps it was the dim lighting, but for some reason T.K. could hardly make out the faces of those around him. Though even more stranger was the fact that though the other people at the table were talking, he could not make out a word that they were saying._

_As for himself, T.K. could not remember how he got there. Yet there he was sitting at the table with the other guests wearing a black tuxedo of his own. He looked to his left and saw sitting at the head of the table a bald man whose face he could not make out. The thing that greatly troubled T.K. though was the large statue behind the bald man. It was some sort of creature with an octopus head, a pair of bat-like wings, and a sort of flabby imitation of a humanoid body. The sheer silhouette of the thing filled him with a terror of something that he could not quite place._

_Suddenly the bald man lightly tapped his glass, brining the room to a silence. As soon as the mingling of those of the table had ceased, waiters who also had faces which were impossible to make out wheeled in covered trays, placing each one in front of those who were sitting at the table. There was also an even larger tray placed roughly at the center of the table, which T.K. deduced was the main course. The bald man snapped his fingers and the waiters uncovered the trays. The thing that was on the tray made T.K. want to throw up, what exactly the "meal" was could not be described. It looked like it could've been something from the deepest parts of the ocean floor, and what was worse was that it was still moving. The thing's mouth, if it could be called a mouth, was still opening and closing like it was taking breaths, and the rest of its body throbbed indicating that it was still alive._

_The bald man snapped his fingers again, and one of the waiters removed the lid on the huge tray at the center of the table. T.K. was horrified to see that under the lid of that tray was a young woman with short brown hair wearing a pink gown. The woman was bound and gagged, and her brown eyes were filled with terror. Of course there was no question to T.K. that the girl was in fact Kari. T.K. tried to stand up and save Kari, but found to his horror that he could not move, he could not even speak to scream Kari's name. He was paralyzed._

_Suddenly, the other people sitting at the table began changing shape, their clothing ripping off because they could not handle the sudden change in shape and size. By the time the horrid transformation had finished, the people at the table had become a horrid combination of fish and frog with glassy sunken eyes and skin that gave them the appearance of shadows. T.K. immediately recognized the things as the creatures that lived in The Dark Ocean. Again T.K. desperately tried to move to save Kari, but his body was frozen. Then to T.K.'s ultimate horror, the creatures climbed up onto the table and started surrounding Kari. The last thing that T.K. saw of Kari before the creatures enveloped her were her eyes, which seemed to be begging for T.K. to save her. As the last creature completely blocked out Kari from view, T.K. heard an evil sounding voice that called out one phrase._

_"Home by the sea!"_

T.K. shot up in bed drenched in a cold sweat. He looked around and was relieved to find that he was back in his own room at his apartment. Patamon was still sound asleep at the foot of his bed. For a moment T.K. thought about waking the little Digimon up to tell him about his nightmare, but in the end decided not to. Deciding that he needed a drink of water, T.K. got out of bed being careful not to wake Patamon and quietly went out to the kitchen.

Out in the kitchen as T.K. filled his glass in the sink he kept thinking about that nightmare. It was the first nightmare since Kari's disappearance that T.K. could fully remember, and it was by far the most vivid. The most horrible part of the nightmare was seeing Kari in mortal danger and being absolutely powerless to save her, although for T.K. that was really nothing new. In all of the battles that the Digidestined children fought against the evil Digimon that threatened both the Digital and human worlds, T.K. had usually been the weak link, always needing someone to protect him while he himself could do nothing but sit on the sidelines. And with being back in the grim reality of Kari missing, T.K. had felt even more powerless than ever because there was nothing he could do to find her and save her from whatever terror she was currently facing.

The nightmare did seem to make one thing clear to T.K. though, it seemed to confirm his greatest hope and fear that Kari was once again trapped at The Dark Ocean. Why else would those fish-frog creatures have been in the dream? Although this confirmation was of little comfort to T.K., as for one thing he had no idea how to get to The Dark Ocean. The other fact was that the nightmare was perhaps just that, a nightmare. And yet T.K. could not shake the feeling that the nightmare was some sort of grim confirmation of what he had been feeling that entire month.

There was something else that bothered T.K., and that was the evil voice he had heard before waking up from the nightmare. He could not begin to figure out what the phrase meant, but it was the voice itself that bothered him. There was something familiar about the voice, like he had heard it before, and yet he could not place it. With his glass of water finished, T.K. looked at the clock by the fridge. It read 2:00 AM, and T.K. had and 7:30 class in the morning. So he headed back to bed, hoping that he could get at least a small amount of sleep without having another horrid nightmare.

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><p>Review and let me know what you think.<p> 


	6. The Roof Is Leaking

**Author's Note:** The title of this chapter is named after a song from Phil Collins's solo album: Face Value. As I've said before, you don't have to listen to these songs while reading this story, but it can help add to the story a little. The song I chose for the name of this chapter perhaps isn't the best fit, but it does help set the tone of the chapter. There's a bit of drama in this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 5: "The Roof Is Leaking"<p>

Davis woke up to once again find himself on the couch in Ken and Yolei's apartment. He glanced at the clock to see what time it was, not that he really cared about the time though. The clock read 10:00 AM, not the latest that Davis ever slept in, but pretty late. As he sat up on the couch he looked around the room he saw Veemon in the corner by the window talking with Hawkmon and Wormmon. Davis couldn't hear what the three Digimon were talking about, nor did he care. Davis had found it hard to care about anything since Kari had vanished, or as far as Davis knew, killed herself.

Almost mindlessly, Davis turned on the television. Not at all caring what was on, Davis stared blankly at the cooking show that the set just happened to be changed to. Suddenly loud arguing could be heard from the kitchen. Ken and Yolei were fighting again, though Davis wasn't really listening to what they were fighting about. Davis never really paid any attention to their fights. All he knew was that the two had been fighting ever since he started staying at their place. At that moment, the three Digimon approached Davis.

"Davis, we need to talk." Veemon began in a serious tone.

"…About what?" Davis asked, not taking his eyes off the television.

As soon as Davis said those words, Wormmon shot a silk thread from his mouth that hit the remote clutched in Davis's hand. With one good twist of his body, the larva-like Digimon pulled the remote out of Davis's hand. At the same time, Hawkmon flew up high enough to touch the power button of the T.V. with his beak and turned the set off. That action seemed to snap Davis out of his stupor.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?" Davis exclaimed in a tone of annoyance as he finally stood up from the couch.

"We needed to have your full attention." Hawkmon said sternly.

"Look Davis, we need to talk about the problems you've been causing Ken and Yolei." Veemon said, getting back to what he was starting to tell his human partner.

"Problems I've been causing for Ken and Yolei? What are you talking about?" Davis asked, quirking his brow in confusion.

"Don't you know what Ken and Yolei have been arguing about?" Hawkmon asked.

"I, I don't know!" Davis said, still clueless as he slumped back onto the couch. "I just figured that they were fighting about what couples usually fought about."

"They've been fighting about you staying here and doing nothing but stare at the T.V. all day." Hawkmon said in the strictest tone Davis had heard the little bird Digimon speak in.

"They've been fighting about me?" Davis said in complete astonishment as he sat up.

"Look Davis," Wormmon began in his usual nervous tone, "Ken and Yolei both think of you as a friend, and the three of us do too. But Yolei just can't stand you staying here anymore. And Ken, well… he's just worried about you; he can't bring himself to throw you out. He can't do that to his best friend."

"Davis, I think it's time for the two of us to hit the road." Veemon said finally.

"…I… have to use the bathroom." Davis said getting up from the couch.

Upon reaching the bathroom and turning on the light, Davis took a good long look at himself in the mirror. His face was unshaven and his short brown hair was a mess. All he was wearing was a dirty white shirt, boxers, and a blue bathrobe. Davis was known for being somewhat of a slob, but even he thought he was a mess. Though he thought that his current appearance did suit him. The bottom line was that he was scum; all he did was cause problems and hurt people. First he hurt Kari, and as a result not only had Kari probably killed herself, but Tai, a person that Davis greatly admired, hated his guts. And now his very presence was tearing Ken and Yolei apart. The words of Veemon and the other two Digimon had made Davis take a good long look at what he had become, and he decided that he wasn't going to ruin the lives of his friends.

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><p>Meanwhile in the kitchen, Ken and Yolei were continuing their argument.<p>

"He hasn't shown any signs of leaving at all!" Yolei shouted. "Davis has been here for a month Ken! We have to put our foot down now!"

"Yolei, we can't just throw him out in the state he's in!" Ken rebutted. "He'll leave when he's ready!"

"And just how much more time is it gonna take Ken?" Yolei asked angrily. "Another month, a year? We've given Davis more than enough time to leave on his own! Face it, he's not going to leave unless we throw him out!"

"Why are you being so hard on Davis?" Ken demanded to know. "You've been treating him like dirt ever since Kari disappeared!"

"I have not!" Yolei said offended. "I have been very patient with Davis, but my patience has run out! Now either he goes today Ken, or so help me I'll…"

Before Yolei could finish her threat, the door to the kitchen opened and Davis walked in.

"Look, I know you guys have been fighting about me." Davis began, Ken and Yolei giving him their full attention. "Veemon and the others told me. I don't want you guys to split up because of me. You guys have it better than Kari and I ever had it, and I don't want to be responsible for ruining that. I know what you guys probably think of me, especially you Yolei, and you're right, I'm scum. Kari deserved someone better than me for a boyfriend, you guys deserve someone better than me as a friend, and hell, the world deserves someone better than me period. So I'm going to do you guys a big favor and get out of your hair. Veemon and I can stay at Cody's for a couple of days until we can find a place. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused."

With that, Davis turned and went back out to the living room. Ken and Yolei were both completely stunned by what had just happened. It was of course what they had wanted, what they had been hoping for, but in their wildest dreams they didn't think that Davis would leave the apartment of his own free will. The two of them had more or less given up on Davis. Then out of the blue he had surprised them. Suddenly, Yolei burst into tears, causing Ken to focus on her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ken asked in a concerned tone.

"I'm a terrible person." Yolei sobbed.

"What? No you're not." Ken said with a half smile as if what Yolei had just said was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. "Why do you say you're a terrible person?"

"You were right about me treating Davis like dirt before." Yolei sniff, regaining some composure. "I've just been so mad at him for so long."

"Is it because he cheated on Kari?" Ken asked, remembering how his girlfriend reacted when she had heard of Davis's acts of infidelity and the tongue-lashing she gave him each time he came to stay at their place after each act.

"That's part of it." Yolei answered as she started to tear up again. "The truth is, I believe the rumors about how Kari had… had…"

"The rumors about how Kari had killed herself?" Ken asked, effectively finishing Yolei's sentence.

"I visited Kari a couple of days before she vanished." Yolei continued as she once again tried to compose herself. "She was so tired looking when I saw her last. I mean she tried putting up a good front like she always did, but I could tell that something was wrong, that something was eating away at her. Then when Kari disappeared I thought that maybe… maybe she just couldn't take anymore. And I thought that Davis cheating on her that third time just sent her over the edge, so I blamed him for it. Kari was my best friend and because of him…"

Yolei couldn't take anymore and completely broke down in tears. Ken rushed over and hugged her, stroking her purple hair as she cried into his shirt. After what seemed like twenty minutes, Yolei finally calmed down.

"Feeling better?" Ken asked.

"A little I guess." Yolei answered as she wiped away her remaining tears. "What gets me right now though is that just when I had Davis figured as a slime bag who only cares about himself, he goes and does something decent and finally moves out of here."

"Look first of all, we don't know that Kari killed herself." Ken began. "And even if she did I can understand why you blamed Davis for it, and it doesn't make you a terrible person for doing so. When people we care about die in such an unexpected and tragic way we often feel we need someone or something to blame to try and make sense of it. I know that I blamed myself for my brother's death, even though it was an accident. I'm pretty sure that Davis thinks that Kari killed herself too, and that he blames himself for her death. But the truth is it's nobody's fault that Kari killed herself if she did, and continuing to blame Davis won't make it any better. It just causes more pain."

"You're right Ken." Yolei said as she finally regained her full composure. "I guess that deep down I always knew that Davis wasn't to blame. Even so, I can't seem to bring myself to forgive him."

"It'll take time." Ken said as he kissed Yolei's forehead. "Right now I'm going to tell Davis about that place we found for him before he goes off to Cody's and starts driving him nuts."

"Okay." Yolei said with a small chuckle.

A moment later Ken was out in the living room. He saw that Davis was already dressed and packing.

"Hey Davis." Ken called out.

"I'm packing as fast as I can Ken." Davis said as he wadded two shirts together and shoved them into his duffle bag.

"I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to stay at Cody's." Ken said, causing Davis to pause in his task of packing.

"What, you mean you guys want me to stay now?" Davis asked as he turned to face Ken.

"Actually, Yolei and I found you a place to live a few days ago." Ken replied. "It's a small apartment, kinda dirty. It's on the top floor so you have a pretty good view, but the roof leaks. Still, it's a place to live."

"You guys found me my own place?" Davis asked in amazement. "Ken I, I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." Ken smiled. "I just want you to get on with your life, and so does Yolei."

"…Thanks man." Davis said as he put his hand on Ken's shoulder. "You're a better friend than I deserve."

"C'mon, I'll help you pack." Ken offered.

Davis nodded, and with the help of their three Digimon companions Davis was packed and out the door within minutes on the way to his new place.

* * *

><p>Tai was out taking a walk in the park. He had gotten the day off of work but he couldn't enjoy himself. He couldn't stop thinking about the previous night when he saw Matt and Sora on a date together. Tai also couldn't stop thinking about how he had reacted when he saw them like that. It was an understandable reaction, but he still felt bad about it. Try as he might, Tai could not stay mad at either of them. Matt was his best friend; they had saved the world together. Tai did not want that friendship to end.<p>

As for Sora, Tai had become painfully aware that he had pushed her away. Heck, he had pushed Matt away too. The anger that Tai had felt over Kari's disappearance and possible death had caused him to push just about everyone away. There were even a few times when he lashed out at Agumon for no reason. So it was no great wonder to Tai that she decided that she couldn't take anymore and left him for Matt.

Tai decided that he did not want to lose his friendship with Matt and Sora. So he knew that the first thing he had to do was apologize to them, not just for what had happened the previous night, but also for how he had acted toward them for the past month. As Tai continued to walk, he came upon something that he didn't expect. Both Matt and Sora were at the park apparently having a picnic. Tai decided right then and there to apologize to them. Very calmly, Tai walked over to where the couple was on their blanket under a large tree. It did not take long for Matt and Sora to notice Tai, and both of them stood to face him.

"Hey…" Tai greeted with a smile and friendly wave.

"What do you want Tai?" Sora asked in an unfriendly tone that told Tai that he was not welcome.

"I just wanted to apologized for what happened last night." Tai replied. "I reacted pretty badly I guess."

"How did you know we were here?" Matt asked.

"I didn't." Tai said with an awkward laugh. "It was just a big coincidence. Kinda like me finding you and Sora at The Golden Swan last night."

"…Look Tai, I think you should know that Sora and I only started going out last night." Matt explained. "It just started out as an innocent dinner between two old friends. But then all of the sudden it became something more."

"Matt is telling the truth Tai." Sora said as her expression softened. "The truth is I've been thinking about breaking up with you for awhile now, and well… I never imagined that things would happen the way they did."

"I can kinda understand why you left me Sora." Tai said with an understanding smile. "I've been a real jerk to you, to everyone actually. I've just been so angry about Kari's disappearance that I've just been lashing out at everybody. And for that I'm sorry."

"We can understand Tai." Matt replied. "Kari's disappearance has been hard on everyone, but it's probably been the hardest on you. Well, you and a couple of other people I know."

"…So Sora, is there any chance that you and I could…" Tai began to ask.

"I'm sorry Tai…" Sora said as she looked away from Tai with a sad expression.

"I see…" Tai said as he looked down sadly at the ground. "Well, I'll leave you two alone I guess."

With that, Tai quickly walked away from the couple without looking back. He couldn't bear to look back that them, not at that moment. Both Matt and Sora called after Tai, but he did not stop or turn back. It would've been too painful for him to do so. All Tai wanted to do was get away. After all, he didn't want them to see him cry.

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><p>T.K. threw the ball at the basket and watched as it went in and hit the wooden floor of the college basketball court. He had been throwing balls since the end of his first class that morning. T.K. felt that he needed something to keep his mind occupied, something that would help him to forget the horrible nightmare from the previous night. However no matter what he tried he could not get the image of those fish-frog creatures enveloping Kari out of his mind. The very memory of that scene made him sick, though perhaps not as sick as the fact that he couldn't do anything to save her, that he was paralyzed as the things surrounded her.<p>

T.K. looked at his watch, it was almost 1:00. In about twenty-five minutes T.K. needed to be at his next class. So he went to the locker room to shower quickly and change into his street cloths. As he showered and changed, T.K. once again pondered his theory that the dream meant that Kari was at The Dark Ocean again. He mostly believed that his theory was true, hoped it was in fact. Yet he couldn't ignore that rational part of his mind that told him that it was nothing more than a dream, that his subconscious had conjured it from his worries about Kari's possible death and the memory of Kari being dragged to The Dark Ocean all those years ago.

Of course T.K. had told no one about his theory about the dream or about the dream itself. He was certain that no one would believe his theory about where Kari was, and perhaps even think that T.K. was losing his mind. In fact T.K. wondered if he really was losing his mind. He wondered if perhaps he had been more profoundly affected by Kari's disappearance than he realized, that perhaps the event was more than his mind could take and that he was slowly starting to crack. T.K. once again shook those thoughts off as he finished getting dressed. He knew that it would not do him any good to dwell on those thoughts; he had to focus on something else. T.K.'s next class was Introduction to Philosophy, not the most exciting class he had ever taken, but it was something to take his mind off of the dream. He just hoped that he wouldn't fall asleep in class and have another dream.

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><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> So this chapter ended up having a few of the characters copping with Kari's disappearance and some of the other stuff going on in their lives. This will most likely be the last chapter that focuses on the "side characters" of this story. I may have focused a little too much on them in these last few chapters. The rest of the story will focus more on T.K. and Kari. I've more or less wrapped up the sub-plots here. They are open-ended, but I am kinda setting up for something else too, so keep that in mind. )

Anyway, review and let me know what you think.


	7. Nightmare 2The Aquarium

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 6: Nightmare #2-The Aquarium<p>

_T.K. found himself walking through an aquarium. It looked like a fairly normal one at first, something that one would find at just about any well-funded zoo. All around were tanks filled with various fish from all over the world, some were very pretty to behold. There was even one large windowed enclosure that held penguins that were diving and frolicking in the water. There was one odd thing about the place that T.K. noticed however. There were very few people at this aquarium, and the people who were there all had faces that T.K. could not seem to make out._

_As T.K. continued to walk, he found himself entering another wing of the aquarium, a darker wing dimly lit by a green light. The sea creatures kept in this wing were far stranger than the ones in the previous wing. It mostly contained things that lived in the deeper and darker parts of the ocean. Alien looking things that glowed on parts of their body with bright blue lights and sinister red lights that gave them an heir of terror. There were also tanks in that wing that seemed to house sea life from prehistoric times, like the extinct-shelled cephalopod known as the Ammonite._

_Several times T.K. wanted to turn around and leave that sinister alien wing of the aquarium, but something kept driving him forward. At last, T.K. came to another entrance and entered yet another section of the strange wing. This section was even more dimly lit and filled with almost cavernous tanks that contained sea life that was even more terrifying than the creatures from the last section. Some of the tanks contained great white sharks, while others contained the feared giant squid. One tank contained the massive basking shark, a harmless plankton feeder to be sure. But looking into the gaping mouth of such a shark as it fed was enough to make one back away in fear, especially in that darkly lit tank._

_Suddenly T.K. noticed a small pink light at the distant end of that aquarium of horrors. It was somehow warm and familiar to T.K., and he headed for it was quickly as he could, trying to avoid looking at the other creatures kept in those enormous tanks. There was one tank that held a shark far bigger than the basking shark. T.K. thought that perhaps it was some sort of ancestor to all shark kind. He did not dwell on it though and kept heading for the light. All he tried to think about was the light._

_At last, T.K. had reached the source of the light. It was coming from something behind the immense glass wall of a tank that seemed to stretch out endlessly in both directions. Slowly, T.K. approached the tank to see what the light was. In front of the tank was a crowed of people with indistinguishable faces. At last, T.K. got a good look at the source of the light. It was a mermaid with a pink tail, milky white skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. She was wearing the typical clamshell bra that's seen on most mermaids in fiction. Of course right away T.K. recognized who the mermaid was, it was Kari._

_Suddenly a dark realization came upon T.K., one that sent a chill down his spine. The tank that Mermaid Kari was in was far bigger than it needed to be. It was like a giant abyss. Why would Kari need all of that space? Then T.K. noticed the terrified expression on Kari's face, and it occurred to him that something else was in the tank with her. Suddenly in the far distance of the tank a pair of blue lights flared into existence. It was obvious to T.K. that the lights were the eyes of some unnamable horror. Then the crowed gathered in front of the tank transformed into the hideous fish-frog things that inhabited The Dark Ocean._

_The creatures started chanting something in their blasphemous croaking language. At that point, Kari started pounding on the glass with her fists, trying to shout something under water. T.K. of course could not hear what Kari was shouting, but her lips clearly showed that she was trying to shout the words, "Help me."_

_The eyes of the unknown horror in the tank with Kari were getting larger, telling T.K. that it was getting closer. Whatever the thing was, T.K. could tell that it was enormous. After all, why else would it be in such a huge almost abyssal tank? The thing was suddenly seemed to quicken its pace, and soon part of it was made visible by the light emanating from Kari. It seemed to be some sort of snout that one would find on a reptile. As T.K. looked on in horror at the site before him, a voice called out a phrase that T.K. had heard before._

_"Home by the sea!"_

_At last, the creature was on Kari, and it opened it's massive jaws and brought them swinging down upon its helpless prey!_

T.K. shot up in bed, cold sweat dripping down his face. Very quickly he realized that he had had another nightmare, although this new nightmare was more horrifying than the last one. Suddenly T.K. realized that he was being watched. He looked at the foot of the bed and saw Patamon looking at him with concern.

"Are you okay T.K.?" the bat-wing eared Digimon asked.

"I'm fine Patamon… I just had a nightmare." T.K. replied.

"You wanna tell me about it?" Patamon asked. "Talking about a nightmare helps make it go away quicker you know."

T.K. thought hard about Patamon's offer. He wasn't sure if telling Patamon about the nightmare was a good idea, he was afraid that his Digimon companion would think he was crazy. Then again, T.K. felt that he needed to tell someone, and Patamon was probably the best person he could tell.

"Promise you won't think I'm crazy?" T.K. asked.

"Why would I think that?" Patamon asked with a quirked brow.

"Okay…" T.K. replied, taking a breath before he told Patamon of his latest vision. "I was in this weird dark aquarium, and suddenly I saw this bright light. I walked toward it and saw that it was Kari as a mermaid. Then this huge thing showed up in the tank with her, and all of the people there turned into those things from The Dark Ocean."

"You mean those things that wanted to take Kari?" Patamon asked.

"Yeah, and they started cheering for that thing that was in the tank with Kari." T.K. continued. "It swam towards her… and suddenly it, it… it ate her."

T.K. paused his recounting there. It took all that he had to finish that sentence.

"You know what the most horrible part of that nightmare was Patamon?" T.K. suddenly asked. "I was helpless to save Kari."

"…Well, it was just a dream." Patamon said, not knowing exactly what else to say that could comfort his human friend.

"I'm not so sure…" T.K. said, causing Patamon to look in surprise. "You see I had another nightmare like it the night before. It wasn't as bad, but it also had those creatures in it, and I couldn't save Kair in that one either… I think that maybe… maybe these nightmares are trying to tell me that Kari is at The Dark Ocean again. Then again maybe I'm just losing my mind."

Patamon looked at T.K. with a worried expression. The Digimon could not think of anything to say to comfort his human friend.

"There's one other thing." T.K. added. "In both nightmares there was a voice that called out something. 'Home by the Sea' or something like that."

"What's that mean?" Patamon asked.

"I have no idea." T.K. replied. "But the voice that said it was familiar. It's like I've hard it somewhere before but can't remember where. There's something evil about it though, something that frightens me."

"Well, I think that maybe you should try and get back to sleep." Patamon suggested. "Things will look better in the morning."

"That sounds like a good idea." T.K. replied with a worried smile.

"Goodnight T.K." Patamon said as he lied back down on his place at the foot of the bed.

"Goodnight." T.K. replied as he too lied back down. He tried following Patamon's suggestion, but found it almost impossible to get back to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> The nightmare in this chapter is actually based on dreams that I've actually had in the past. They weren't exactly nightmares, but they were very unsettling.

Review and let me know what you think.


	8. Against All Odds

**Author's Note:** The title for this chapter is another Phil Collins song. He actually wrote it for a movie of the same name. I've never seen the movie. I'd like to though. It stars a couple of my favorite actors Jeff Bridges and James Woods, at least I think it's Jeff Bridges. Anyway, I may just look for the movie online one of these days.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon. If I did it would probably have a heavy Phil Collins and Genesis soundtrack.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: "Against All Odds"<p>

T.K. stood out on the deck of his apartment looking out in the direction of the ocean. He did not sleep at all after the nightmare he had last night of that loathsome aquarium. He couldn't stop thinking about it either, or about what the dream had meant. T.K. had called his employer at his part-time job earlier that morning and informed him that he would not be coming in for his shift due to illness. He had relayed the same message to his professors via email. T.K. had decided that in his current state he was in no shape to attend either his classes or his job. Not only was he suffering from lack of sleep, he could not shake the images of the nightmares from his head.

The afternoon sun was beginning to set, and T.K. was thinking about going to the beach for another grim vigil. About the same time as T.K. began contemplating going on what had become a routine trip, he heard a flapping sound that could only be Patamon flying out from the living room. The orange mammal Digimon landed next to T.K.'s feet.

"Thinking of going out to the beach T.K.?" Patamon asked.

"How did you know I was thinking of doing that?" T.K. asked with a small smile.

"Just a lucky guess." Patamon replied. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Why do you want to come with?" T.K. asked looking down at Pataon with a raised eyebrow.

"Just thought you might like some company." Patamon said innocently.

Of course T.K. knew the real reason why Patamon wanted to accompany him, it was because he was worried about T.K., although T.K. couldn't blame his Digimon companion. He was rather worried about himself too. The way he saw it, there were either two explanations for the nightmares, either Kari actually was at The Dark Ocean and the nightmares were some sort of cosmic messages, or he was losing his mind. T.K. did not like the prospect of growing insanity, but what person did? He contemplated Patamon's request for a moment and decided that he would feel better if there was someone with him at the beach.

"Sure, I'd like you to come along this time." T.K. finally replied.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. As T.K. walked back in to answer it, Patamon took the opportunity to fly up and land on T.K.'s head. It was a normal perch for the mammal Digimon. While Patamon did have wings of a sort, they were not the best wings for flying, and his short legs did not really allow him the ability to run or walk fast. Moments later T.K. opened the door and was surprised to find his older brother Matt standing on the other side.

"Hi Matt." T.K. greeted, an expression of surprise on his face. "What brings you here?"

"I came to check up on you." Matt replied as he welcomed himself into his younger brother's apartment. "I heard from a friend that you didn't show up for your classes today."

"I'm not feeling well." T.K. responded as he closed the door behind Matt.

"Really…" Matt said as he plopped himself down on T.K.'s couch. "Do you have a fever or something?"

"Well…" T.K. hesitantly began as he sat down on a nearby chair that faced the couch at an angle. "It's not like I caught a fever or anything. I just didn't feel up to going to class today, or to work for that matter."

"I see…" Matt said as he leaned forward and eyed his brother suspiciously. "What's going on T.K.?"

T.K. knew that it was useless to lie about why he had chosen to stay home. It was impossible for him to lie to Matt about anything, his older brother could see through him. Plus lying was not T.K.'s greatest ability. He knew that he had no choice but to tell Matt about the nightmares.

"I haven't… been getting much sleep lately." T.K. finally said.

"That I already knew." Matt replied. "But there's more isn't there?"

"Yeah…" T.K. replied. "I've been having nightmares, really weird ones. They started about a month ago."

"You mean around the time that Kari disappeared?" Matt asked.

"Yeah…" T.K. replied. "At first I couldn't really remember what they were about, only bits and pieces. But as more time went on they became clearer, more real. And the dreams from last night and the night before were the most real of them all."

"What were they about?" Matt asked.

Quite hesitantly, T.K. told Matt about the last two nightmares he had had, about the horrid feast that featured Kari as the main course, and of the blasphemous aquarium that housed those terrible creatures of the forgotten depths of the ocean. He also mentioned the appearance of the fish-frog things that lived in The Dark Ocean, and of the evil voice that called out the phrase of "Home by the sea".

"Wow… no wonder you haven't been sleeping much." Matt said after hearing the recounting of T.K.'s night terrors.

"…I think that the dreams mean something." T.K. continued hesitantly. "I think that maybe they're trying to tell me that… that Kari is at The Dark Ocean again."

"T.K." Matt began in a tone that made it all too clear that he did not believe his younger brother's theory.

"Look, those monsters that live in that place were in both nightmares!" T.K. exclaimed has he stood up from his chair in frustration. "I don't think it's a coincidence! Kari must be in that place again!"

"Don't you think that there's another explanation?" Matt asked calmly.

"What other explanation could there be?" T.K. asked, flailing his arms.

"That they're just dreams T.K." Matt replied, still remaining calm. "Look, I know how you felt about Kari, how you still feel about her. And I know how devastated you've been since she vanished, but I think it's time that you face the fact that Kari is…"

"KARI IS NOT DEAD!" T.K. shouted, not allowing his brother to finish that sentence. "AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT SHE KILLED HERSELF!"

"T.K.!" Matt said in the same stern tone that he had used with his younger brother when they were kids and T.K. was misbehaving. "…Look, I'm not going to say that Kari killed herself, but you have to face facts that she's gone and that she's probably not coming back. I think it's time you accept that."

"Oh yeah? Well what about the dreams Matt?" T.K. asked after managing to regain some composure. "How do you explain them, huh?"

"I think…" Matt began, trying to think of the best way to explain his theory. "I think that you so desperately want to believe that Kari is still alive that your mind has created these dreams telling you that Kari is at The Dark Ocean."

"If these dreams are really just my mind trying to convince me that Kari isn't gone for good, than wouldn't they be of Kari somewhere safe and happy instead of terrified and being eaten by monsters?" T.K. asked in attempt to refute Matt's logic. "Besides, you know what The Dark Ocean is like! Kari ended up there before because those things wanted her, why couldn't she have ended up there again?"

Matt sighed in defeat as he rose from his seat on the couch.

"I guess you're going to need some convincing." Matt said as he put his hand on T.K.'s shoulder.

With those words, Matt left the apartment. T.K. stood silently where he was with Patamon still perched on top of his head. The Digimon had been there during the whole conversation. The rational part of his mind did tell T.K. that Matt's theory did make sense, but T.K. wouldn't listen to that part. He did not believe that Kari was forever lost, or at least he did not want to believe that. One question did nag at T.K. though, why was Matt so certain that Kari was at The Dark Ocean? For that matter, why had it not occurred to anyone else in the Digidestined group to search that hellish realm of despair? Was it simply because The Dark Ocean was relatively inaccessible? And even if that were the case, why had no one tried before to get there? It suddenly dawned on T.K. that perhaps there was some bit of information to this matter that he was not aware of, something that his brother seemed to know but would not tell him. After all, Matt was hardly surprised when T.K. brought up the idea of Kari being at The Dark Ocean.

"You certain that Kari is at The Dark Ocean again T.K.?" a high feminine voice suddenly asked, breaking T.K. from his thoughts.

T.K. looked down and saw Gatomon staring up at him with the most serious eyes he had seen from the feline Digimon. There were times when T.K. almost forgot that Gatomon was staying with him. After all, most of the time she slept in that basket by the couch because of her depression over losing Kari. It seemed though that T.K.'s conversation with Matt, or perhaps Matt's arrival, had woken her.

"Well?" Gatomon asked expectantly.

"…I'm not completely certain." T.K. finally replied. "But I think so. Either that or I'm going crazy."

"Then why are we just standing around here doing nothing?" Gatomon asked. "We need to get to The Dark Ocean."

"But how are we supposed to do that?" Patamon asked, finally joining the conversation.

"I think I might know a way." Gatomon replied. "We need to get to the beach!"

After a drive of about twenty minutes, T.K. and his two Digimon companions arrived at the beach that T.K. had been coming to ever since Kari had vanished.

"What're we doing here Gatomon?" Patamon asked.

"…T.K., why have you been coming to this beach?" Gatomon asked as she narrowed her eyes at the endless horizon of the ocean.

"I… haven't really thought about it much actually." T.K. replied as he suddenly started to realize just what Gatomon was getting at. "It's sort of like… I've been looking for something… like I've been looking for Kari!"

"I'm not entirely sure about this, but I think that maybe you've known that Kari has been at The Dark Ocean all this time." Gatomon explained. "But until now you've only known it on a subconscious level. Maybe, just maybe… you've been trying to reach out to Kari like she reached out to you all those years ago when she first went to that place."

"You really believe that?" T.K. asked.

"I've never told either you or Kari this before T.K.," Gatomon began, "but ever since that time when we rescued Kari from The Dark Ocean I thought that there was a connection between you two. In fact while I don't know too much about human relationships, I was certain that you two would end up together romantically one day. I mean you two seem like a perfect match to me, and I was actually shocked when Kari ended up with Davis. Although Kari did break up with that moron for good before she vanished, so I think that maybe I'm right after all. In fact I'm almost sure of it now."

"I don't know if Kari and I are connected like you say Gatomon," T.K. began in reply, "or if we were meant to be together, but I am in love with her, and we might have ended up together if I wasn't such a coward and told her how I felt about her years ago."

"I can't speak for Kari, but I'm pretty sure that if that idiot Davis hadn't gotten in the way, she would've figured out that she feels the same way about you T.K." Gatomon replied.

"That's all well and good, but how does all this help us find Kari?" Patamon asked as he flew down from the top of T.K.'s head.

"Because if I'm right and T.K. and Kari are connected, than we can get to The Dark Ocean the same way we got there before." Gatomon replied.

With that, Gatomon took a few steps towards the water and began calling out Kari's name at the top of her lungs. In that moment T.K. suddenly realized that Gatomon trying to get to The Dark Ocean the same way they went there all those years ago. He felt stupid that he didn't try doing it sooner, and quickly joined Gatomon in her attempt to reach Kari. Patamon soon joined the two, and the sound of their voices began to drown out the sound of the waves against the beach.

Hours soon passed however, the sun was setting, and the three were no closer to reaching The Dark Ocean than before. T.K. was somewhat thankful that he and his two companions were alone on the beach, because if anyone else had seen them they'd have thought the three of them mad. Not that T.K. was overly concerned about his image, but a part of him did think that perhaps this desperate attempt to reach Kari had confirmed that he was indeed going insane. At last it seemed to all three that they weren't getting anywhere. Night was falling, and their only choice was to return home.

* * *

><p>Five days passed and T.K. kept having the most vivid and terrifying nightmares about Kari and the fish-frog creatures of The Dark Ocean. Each time T.K. was forced to witness Kari be killed and even tortured in the most unspeakable ways and by unspeakable things, and each time he was powerless to save her. One nightmare was so horrible that after T.K. woke up from it, he vomited over the side of the bed. Needless to say, T.K. had not returned to his classes or his job since the day he had his little conversation with Matt about the nightmares. Most of his time was being spent staring out towards the ocean with Patamon and Gatomon. A few afternoons the three even tried reaching out to Kari as they did before, and each attempt had ended in failure.<p>

T.K., Patamon, and Gatomon had returned home from another attempt they had tried that morning and were greeted by a surprise. Matt was waiting in T.K.'s apartment, and he was not alone. Gabumon was with him of course, but so were Tai and Sora, so were Ken and Yolei. They were not the only visitors though. Two other members of the Digidestined, Izzy Izumi and Cody Hida were also present at the apartment, as were their partner Digimon, Tentomon and Armadillomon. T.K. even expected to see Mimi Tachikawa and Joe Kido as well before remembering that they were in North America. The only member of the Digidestined besides Joe and Mimi was Davis, though that was probably for the best as both T.K. and Tai could not be in the same room with Davis without later being brought into the police station on charges of assault and perhaps murder.

It did not take too long for T.K. to realize why most of the Digidestined group was waiting for him in his apartment. He had seen it a few times televison shows, and T.K. was thankful that at least his parents as well. It was clear though that T.K.'s behavior had caused the other Digidestined to give him an intervention, and perhaps an intervention for Gatomon as well as most of the partner Digimon were there. T.K. knew that they all thought he was crazy.

"What's going on here?" T.K. asked, though he already knew what the answer was.

"We need to talk T.K." Matt said in a serious tone.

"You all think I'm crazy don't you?" T.K. asked, but again he already knew the answer to his question.

"We don't think you're crazy T.K., but your behavior has us all worried." Sora said as she stepped forward. "You haven't been sleeping, you've been skipping your classes and your job, and now Matt says that you've been having these nightmares."

"We just think that maybe you need some professional help buddy." Tai added.

"You all think that Matt is right and that the nightmares I've been having are just some invention of my mind, don't you?" T.K. asked, knowing that the answer would just confirm what he suspected.

"What evidence do you have that they aren't?" Izzy asked from where he was leaning against the wall.

"I don't get why it's so hard for you to believe that Kari just might be at The Dark Ocean!" T.K. exclaimed in frustration. "I know that if we could just figure out a way to get there we'd find her!"

"We already searched The Dark Ocean." Izzy stated bluntly. "A few of us went there only a few days after Kari had vanished."

T.K. looked at Izzy in utter shock. He suddenly realized why Matt seemed so sure that the nightmares were nothing more than that. What T.K. didn't understand was how they could've gotten there.

"It was Ken's idea to search The Dark Ocean in the first place." Izzy continued. "He remembered the incident where Kari was abducted to that place, and he also volunteered to open a portal there. In case you've forgotten T.K., Ken does have the ability to do that."

Indeed, T.K. did remember that Ken had been to The Dark Ocean as well. It was when he was very young, not long after his older brother had died. It was that very realm and the dark spore that had years ago been embedded in the back of Ken's neck that had driven him to become the tyrannical Digimon Emperor. T.K. also remembered that even after his days as the emperor, Ken was able to open a portal to The Dark Ocean, and had used such a portal to imprison a powerful evil Digimon called Daemon. Why T.K. had forgotten that fact he could not begin to guess.

"A team of myself, Ken, Yolei, Matt, and Cody went to The Dark Ocean while you, Tai, and Sora were scouring the Digital World." Izzy continued. "We stayed there for at least three days and searched every possible area. We even had Cody go underwater in Submarimon to look for any signs of an undersea prison of some kind. We thought of every possible place and found nothing."

"What about Daemon, or those 'things' that live there?" T.K. asked.

"We didn't find any trace of them either." Izzy replied. "The mutated Digimon you spoke of were probably hiding very deep in the ocean, and it is unlikely that Kari could have survived at such depths. As for Daemon, there is a slight chance that he might have escaped to the normal Digital World, but it's also likely that the 'things', as you have referred to them as, overwhelmed him. After all, we do not know how many of them there are, or their exact level of power."

"Well why didn't you tell me that you already searched The Dark Ocean?" T.K. asked in a slightly hurt tone.

"We thought about it, and we decided that if you found out that we searched and didn't find Kari you'd want to go there and look for yourself, and that you wouldn't leave once you got there." Matt answered. "You'd just waste away looking for Kari, never finding her. We didn't want that to happen, so we decided not to tell you, and hoped that you wouldn't think of searching The Dark Ocean… I guess that maybe that was a mistake."

"…You were right about one thing Matt, I do want to go there to find Kari." T.K. said as calmly as he could as he tried to contain his anger. "But I'm certain that Kari is there!"

"You're basing this belief on a bunch of random nightmares that could be interpreted in several different ways." Izzy said calmly and logically. "We're asking you to at least put the nightmares aside for a moment and consider the facts that we have presented you with. I think that if you do that, you come to accept the same conclusion that we all have."

"I don't need to consider the facts Izzy!" T.K. said angrily as his composure began to slip. "What I need is for Ken to open a portal to The Dark Ocean so I can look for Kari myself!"

"Ken will do no such thing!" Yolei declared as she stepped forward an positioned herself between Ken and T.K. "We just told you that we already looked for Kari in that hell hole, and we're not going back there!"

"You didn't look hard enough!" T.K. yelled.

"We looked everywhere! We turned over every rock!" Yolei yelled back. "We stayed there until we couldn't stay there anymore! Ken was sick for a week afterward, and he almost lost his mind staying there! And I'm not going to risk my fiancée's life and sanity going back to that place because of some stupid nightmares of yours!"

"Fine, then I'll find my own way there!" T.K. declared. "And don't any of you try to stop me!"

"Get a hold of yourself T.K.!" Matt said as he approached his younger brother.

Suddenly Gatomon leapt up and knocked Matt to the ground with a Lightning Paws attack. The feline Digimon landed back in front of T.K. and hissed at the assembled group. The partner Digimon that were with the group quickly gathered in front of Matt ready to fight their comrade if need be.

"If any of you try to stop T.K., I'll rip you to shreds!" Gatomon declared.

"Calm down Gatomon." Agumon said, not taking his eyes of the feline Digimon. "There's no need for violence."

"You all believe that Kari is gone for good, but I won't!" Gatomon declared. "I never will! I'll go to the ends of the universe to find her and I'll tear through anyone and anything that gets in my way! T.K. is the only other person who believes that Kari is out there somewhere and I have faith that he's the only one who can find her! So I'll support him with everything I've got!"

T.K. saw this standoff as an opportunity to leave and get as far away from the group as possible. In a flash he took that opportunity and opened the door and ran out as fast as he could. Gatomon ran after him. Patamon had been on top of T.K.'s head the whole time. In fact his grip tightened a little when Gatomon attacked Matt. As quick as they could, T.K. and Gatomon got back into T.K.'s car and drove off. Back in the apartment, Matt had gotten back to his feet and was about to go after them.

"Matt hold on!" Sora called out. "I think that we should leave T.K. alone for right now."

"Are you crazy? There's no telling what he'll do now!" Matt said as he turned to face Sora in disbelief.

"I think Sora's right Matt." Tai said calmly. "He needs a little time to himself to think about what we told him. T.K.'s a smart kid, I'm sure that he'll come back once he considers all the facts calmly like Izzy said."

"And if he doesn't?" Matt asked.

"Then we'll go out and drag him back here if we have to!" Tai declared. "I won't lose T.K. like I lost Kari!"

"…Thanks Tai." Matt replied as he calmed down. "And thanks for coming here to do this thing with us. I know that this thing with you, me, and Sora…"

"You don't have to say anything more." Tai said, cutting Matt off. "I kind of think of T.K. as my little brother too. I'd do anything to help him."

"What about Gatomon?" Cody asked, speaking up for the first time since they got there. "You heard how determined she is to find Kari."

"Hopefully she'll calm down and realize what we've told her is true too." Agumon replied. "But if she doesn't, I guess we'll have to drag her back too."

* * *

><p>Kari woke up from another period of light sleep that she did not remember entering, tears streamed down her face as she realized again that she was still in her prison at The Dark Ocean. It had seemed like an eternity since she first woke up in that horrid room. What Kari could not understand was why nobody had come to save her. Did they not know she was gone? Had she not been in that prison for as long as she originally thought? Or perhaps all of her friends had given her up for dead. Though Kari could not believe that, at least not fully. She found it hard to picture Gatomon giving her up for lost, and then there was T.K., whom Kari had kept expecting to fly in on the back of Patamon's armored form of Pegasusmon and save her like he had done all those years ago.<p>

Kari had thought about T.K. many times since her arrival. All she could really do in that room was think. Kari had thought often of seeing T.K. again, about all the times they had spent together. And very slowly, Kari had remembered how she once felt about T.K. The truth was that a few years ago Kari had started to see T.K. as more than just a friend. She thought that perhaps that they would become something more, but it seemed that T.K. wasn't interested in anything more than friendship. Kari had waited for T.K. to suggest that they become more than friends, there were even a few times when she thought he was going to do just that. But T.K. never made such a move, then Davis came along and that was that. Kari had given up and moved on.

But with her relationship with Davis a thing of the past and in her current predicament, Kari had begun to reexamine her feelings for T.K., and she had found that they were as strong as they were in the past. It then dawned on Kari that perhaps she should've been the one to make the first move with T.K., that she should've at least made her feelings known. But then perhaps she was too afraid that T.K. wouldn't feel the same way, too afraid that if she was rejected it would ruin the friendship that she and T.K. had shared. When she realized all this, Kari regretted not telling T.K. how she felt, lamented in fact. And she swore to herself that if she ever saw T.K. again she would tell him how she felt.

Kari's thoughts of regret were interrupted by a horrible croaking sound that she had become all too familiar with. It seemed that there was only one of the things, but it was right outside the locked door. Kari was almost certain that one of the creatures was about to do to her what she feared they would do to her since she first arrived. The small panel at the bottom of the door slid open, but no tray of food was sent through. It looked like the supreme moment of terror had finally come.

"Child of Light." The creature said though the open panel in a human sounding voice that Kari had forgotten the creatures could produce. "Tomorrow is the festival of May Eve. On that day you will be sacrificed to our god so that he may bring forth a new era. It is tragic that you denied our offer years ago and helped us to produce offspring. What glorious creatures they would have been, and you would have been their mother. They would have worshiped you as a goddess, but alas you have chosen a different fate. Our god has declared that you be a sacrifice for The Old Ones whose power is greater than our god's. This fate is unavoidable, tomorrow you shall die."

With those words the panel shut, and Kari could hear the creature leave. Kari was somewhat relieved that the creature had not come with the intention of having her bear his child, but the prospect of being sacrificed to an ocean god did not sound much better. Especially when she considered what this god looked like. She had seen the thing one time in the dream she had before waking up the first time in that wretched room of despair. It seemed to Kari that it was over; that all hope of rescue had faded. Soon she would die, and none of her friends and family would know about it.

Then she thought of T.K. again. The thought of seeing T.K. again gave Kari a second wind. She had to see him again, to tell him how she feels about him, and to do that she had to escape. Kari could no longer wait around for someone to come to her rescue. It was against all odds that she could escape from that room, against all odds that she could escape from The Dark Ocean on her own, but she had to take the chance. She was willing to take any chance to see T.K. one last time.

* * *

><p>About the same time in the human world, T.K., Patamon, and Gatomon were on the beach again. They had no other idea where to go. Their friends had decided that T.K. had more or less lost his mind, and they were determined to stop him from going to The Dark Ocean to look for Kari. T.K. could not help but think about what Izzy and the others had told him about their search of The Dark Ocean. The more T.K. thought about, the more it seemed like perhaps he was wrong and that he was losing his mind. He could not really deny the facts. If Matt and Izzy had indeed searched The Dark Ocean and not found Kari, than perhaps she really wasn't there after all.<p>

"What do we do now T.K.?" Patamon asked.

"I… I don't know…" T.K. said in a helpless tone. "But maybe… maybe I've been wrong this whole time… I mean if Matt and the others already looked for Kari at The Dark Ocean and didn't find her… than maybe there isn't any real hope of finding Kari after all…"

Gatomon was about to voice her objections to T.K.'s thoughts when the air was suddenly filled with the sound of evil laughter. Immediately T.K. recognized the voice as the same voice he kept hearing in his dreams, and he felt that he was on the verge of remembering whom the voice belonged to. T.K. glanced down and saw both Patamon and Gatomon looking around and trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. He was relieved to see that his two Digimon friends could hear the voice too, because otherwise it would have confirmed his fear that he had indeed lost his mind. Never the less it was still terrifying to hear a voice that before had only existed in his nightmares.

"How ironic that the Child of Hope would suddenly lose hope himself." The voice laughed. "It amuses me to no end. But then I suppose it only goes to further prove just how weak willed you truly are. After all, one can have all the hope in the world, but all that hope is worthless without the will to act on it. You boy have never had the will to act, all you ever did was hope and pray that your friends and brother would save the day while you stood by on the sidelines."

"Who are you?" T.K. demanded. "Show yourself!"

"Of course my boy." The voice said with fiendish delight. "After all, it's been so long since we last saw each other."

Suddenly not too far out in the water a sort of black vortex opened up and T.K. could see a thing rising out of it. It was humanoid, and also well muscled. Its forearms were abnormally long and ended in large clawed hands. The creature in question wore a sort of black bodysuit that clung tightly to its form, which included an attached horned mask that revealed only chalk-white skin around its mouth and a pair of fearsome red eyes. On its back was a pair of gigantic bat-like wings filled with holes and a red bal-like symbol was emblazoned on its chest. A series of black belts were wrapped around the creature's abdomen, left forearm, right upper arm, and left upper leg. A sort of brown leather bandage was also wrapped almost completely around the creature's right forearm.

Immediately T.K. recognized this demon that was rising from the pit. He could never forget the creature for as long as he lived. It was the first enemy that the original Digidestined had ever faced, the enemy that Patamon had died in battle against once before coming back as an egg. It seemed impossible that this enemy could be back, but then T.K. did know that most Digimon could come back from the dead, being reborn as eggs just as Patamon was. Why couldn't the evil ones come back as well? T.K. could not deny the identity of the evil Digimon that had come before him. It was none other than Devimon.

"Now my boy, your hopes for saving the day rest with me." Devimon said with an evil smile that chilled T.K. to the bone.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> A recent and very positive review told me that one of the flaws of this story is that the main plot might be moving a little too slow. I had to admit that I'd been having the same feeling, so I decided to make a few alterations to what I was planning to write. There was originally going to be another nightmare scene before this chapter, but I decided that it would only serve to repeat what I had already done and do nothing for advancing the plot. So I cut it. Also, this chapter was originally going to be two chapters, but in the interests of moving the plot forward I merged them together into one long chapter. It might be the longest chapter in the story so far.

So now Devimon is back. This is where the fun starts. Review and let me know what you think.


	9. A Deal With the Devil

**Author's Note:** There's no Phil Collins or Genesis song used for the title of this chapter, but only because the title I came up with was far more appropriate.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 8: A Deal With the Devil<p>

"Don't be so surprised." Devimon said to T.K. as he hovered onto the beach. "After all, if your little friend Patamon can come back from the dead then so can I."

T.K. stood almost frozen in terror. One of his worst fears was that Devimon would come back for revenge. He knew that Digimon never really died, their data was only reconfigured back into an egg that would eventually hatch and start the cycle of life over again. T.K. had seen it happen to Patamon after he fought had fought Devimon to a stalemate that ended in both their deaths. And just because Devimon was evil did not mean that he couldn't come back as well.

There was a part of T.K. that actually was not quite surprised that Devimon had retuned. In fact T.K. thought that perhaps the evil Digimon's return provided a sort of completion to things. The woman that he loved most had vanished off the face of the earth, his sleep had been disturbed by horrible nightmares for the past month, his friends and family all thought that he was insane, and just when he thought that perhaps things could not get any worse, his most hated enemy had returned from the grave. T.K. knew then that there was no possible way that his life could get any worse. Or at least he hoped there was no way it could.

"I must admit that I am a bit disappointed." Devimon continued. "I come back after all these years only to find that you're still the same pathetic little boy that I faced on File Island, weak willed and powerless, unable to fight your own battles. I'm actually quite mad at myself because you managed to defeat me. I, the great Devimon, was defeated by a sniveling child, nothing could be more embarrassing."

T.K. did somewhat agree with some of the things that Devimon had just said about him. He always seemed to depend on others to fight his battles for him, like Patamon and his brother Matt. Still, there was a part of T.K. that was greatly offended by Devimon's remarks.

"Of course now you're even more pathetic than before." Devimon continued. "Now your friends have abandoned you. The only allies you have left are a pathetic white cat and Patamon, whom I'm sure has since become as useless as you are."

T.K.'s anger was beginning to swell. It was one thing to insult him, but insulting Patamon was something else. Patamon was beginning to grow enraged too. The little Digimon was waiting for T.K. to tell him to tear Devimon to pieces.

"But the thing that is the most amusing of all is that you've given up on rescuing that girl Kari." Devimon continued. "I wonder just what you'd do if the girl was here with me right now? Perhaps you would only stand by helplessly and watch as I snapped her neck."

With those words T.K.'s fury had finally boiled over. Devimon had gone too far.

"Patamon!" T.K. shouted as a command to his Digimon partner to attack.

Immediately Patamon started flying full speed at Devimon and began glowing with a magnificent golden light.

"Patamon digivolve to… Angemon!" Patamon cried, his voice changing with the utterance of his other name as he transformed.

In an instant Patamon had changed into a tall humanoid figure clad in a white bodysuit that clung tightly to his muscular form. His eyes were covered by a black helmet emblazoned with a cross, and from under the back of the helmet came a mane of long golden hair. On his back were six white-feathered wings. Around his waste he wore a belt with a golden buckle in the shape of the sun, and he wore a piece of gold armor on his left shoulder in the same shape. Hanging down from the front of the belt was a blue and slightly tattered breechcloth, and in his right hand he carried a long golden staff.

In the instant his transformation was completed, Angemon swung his staff hard into the left side of Devimon's neck, knocking the Fallen Angel Digimon to the ground.

"So it seems that you have some fire in you after all." Devimon laughed as he got back to his feet. "But as much as I would like a chance for revenge against you and Angemon, that is not the reason why I have returned."

"Then why have you come foul one?" Angemon demanded, ready with his staff to give his old enemy another blow.

"Quite simply I am here to help the three of you rescue Kari." Devimon replied, surprising T.K. and his two companions.

"You know where Kari is?" T.K. asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and so do you my boy." Devimon answered, his red eyes aimed directly at T.K. "She is trapped at The Dark Ocean."

"But The Dark Ocean was already searched, Kari wasn't there!" T.K. replied, and to this Devimon laughed hard.

"Do you really think that the girl is not there simply because your pathetic friends could not find her?" Devimon asked. "There are powers at work here that you and your friends cannot comprehend and perhaps not even begin to imagine. And if these powers wish for the girl not to be found, they could easily make it so. However, you boy are the only one who can defy this power and find the girl."

"And why is that?" T.K. asked, not really believing a word that Devimon was saying.

"Because you and the girl are connected." Devimon answered simply. "The two of you complete each other. After all, without hope light cannot shine, and without light hope cannot exist. You are a part of the girl, just as she is a part of you. That is why you are connected, and not even the great powers within The Dark Ocean can sever that connection."

T.K. had to admit that what Devimon was saying made sense. And he did remember that Gatomon had said something similar five days before. T.K. also thought back to when he had first rescued Kari from The Dark Ocean and wondered if it was this supposed connection to Kari that allowed him to get there in the first place. He had called out to Kari and Kari had answered and somehow pulled him through. But then if there really was a connection, then why hadn't T.K. been able to get through to Kari like before? Was there some sort of interference? Then T.K. thought of the dreams, and how Devimon's voice was in them. It made T.K. think that perhaps all of this was some trick of Devimon's.

"You don't believe what I'm telling you, do you?" Devimon asked. "You're probably wondering about the dreams you've been having, and about why you have not been able to get to The Dark Ocean yourself. The truth is that while the great powers cannot break the bond that you and the girl have, they are trying to interfere with it. Why do you think that until only a week ago you could not remember the dreams that are such obvious signs?"

"And you're saying that you've broken through this interference?" T.K. asked.

"I have learned a few tricks since our last encounter." Devimon replied. "And because of me the interference of these great powers have been broken somewhat, though not completely. I was at least able to clear the dream visions, and even insert my own little clue within them."

"Home by the sea…" T.K. said, repeating the message that Devimon supposedly implanted in the nightmares.

"That's right." Devimon replied. "That place is where the interference is the weakest, the one place where you can break through to The Dark Ocean and find the girl. And only I can take you to where that place is."

"T.K., don't believe a word he says!" Angemon interrupted. "This has to be a trap of some kind!"

"I hate to say it, but I have to agree with Angemon." Gatomon added. "There's no way we can trust Devimon. There has to be something up his sleeve."

"I can understand your skepticism." Devimon said to T.K. "After all, what person could so easily trust their worst enemy? But then what other choice do you have? There is no other option for rescuing the girl other than the one I have provided."

The more rational part of T.K. agreed with Angemon and Gatomon that Devimon was trying to bate him into some kind of trap. But even so there was another part that wanted to believe the evil Digimon, a part that wanted to take the risk. T.K. really didn't know what part to believe, but there was one question that he had to ask.

"Let's say you're telling the truth. What do you get out of it?" T.K. asked Devimon.

"I don't know what you mean." Devimon replied with an evil smile.

"You said yourself that no one could trust their worst enemy." T.K. responded. "Well no one would help their worst enemy either unless they hoped to get something out of it. So I'm asking you what you plan to get out of helping me."

"Perhaps I do have an ulterior motive for helping you, but does that really matter?" Devimon asked. "I am your only hope for rescuing the girl right now. Surely that is more important to you than the risk of helping me."

"T.K., whatever you decide to do I will follow you." Angemon cut in. "If you wish to accept Devimon's offer, then I will support you."

"The same goes for me T.K." Gatomon added.

T.K. did not know what to do. He did not believe Devimon, but he wanted to. If Devimon was telling the truth it meant that not only was Kari alive, but that she could be saved. In his heart, T.K. wanted to believe that and take the chance of believing Devimon. T.K. began arguing with himself over what to do.

"Hope and faith are at times not that different." Devimon interrupted. "You believe that the girl is at The Dark Ocean, that is your faith. Despite the doubts of others you have stuck to that faith. Now the time has come for you to take a leap of faith boy and trust me."

In his mind T.K. kept telling himself that Devimon was trying to lead him into a trap, but his heart wouldn't listen. In the end T.K. knew that Devimon was right. He believed that Kari was at The Dark Ocean despite every fact that told him otherwise, and he knew that he would risk anything to save her, even if it meant making a deal with the devil himself.

"Okay… take me to The Dark Ocean." T.K. finally said to Devimon.

"I do have one condition." Devimon said with an evil grin. "You may only bring Angemon and Gatomon with you. They will be needed for the rescue, but no other member of the Digidestined may come."

"That's fine, just take me there!" T.K. demanded.

* * *

><p>Kari passed around the room several times going over every detail of her escape plan again and again. She had thought about escape from her prison for quite some time, but she did not want to leave anything to chance. Kari knew however that if she was going to escape it was now or never, otherwise she would be made a sacrifice to the creature that her captors called a god. She looked at the only pieces of furniture in the room, the bed, the nightstand, and the old nonfunctioning lamp. For Kari's plan of escape to work, she would need to break the window, and decided that the lamp would be the best tool to accomplish that task. The only problem was that the room that Kari was in was not on the ground floor.<p>

Fortunately Kari had thought of that too. Her first task was removing the tattered curtains from the window, which was fortunately rather large. With the curtains removed, Kari tied them together to form a makeshift rope. Of course Kari wanted as long a rope as possible, as she did not know exactly what floor of the building she was on. So she went over to the bed and removed the blanket, the sheets, and even the pillowcase and made them a part of the rope. Kari was amazed by just how filthy the mattress was under the sheets, though not entirely surprised. The bed always did have an unappealing aroma to it.

With the rope finished, Kari turned her attention to blocking the door. She thought about moving the bed, but decided that it was too heavy for her. Her only other option was the nightstand. As Kari pulled it out, she found that it was surprisingly heavy. Although since she was using it to block the door its weight was a good thing, however it did make moving the object a bit harder. The nightstand also made an incredibly loud noise as it was dragged across the wood that slowed Kari's progress even further. She did not want the noise to alert her captors.

Slowly but surely and with as little noise as possible, Kari had successfully moved the nightstand. With that task accomplished, Kari took the old lamp, which she had since set on the mattress, and her makeshift rope and headed over to the window. Kari had already tried opening the window normally several times before. It had either become immovable with age or was somehow locked from the outside. Whatever the case it was clear to Kari that her only option was to smash it open.

Kari took a deep breath, and with all of her strength began pounding the lamp against the window. At last a crack began to form, but Kari was alerted to several croaking noises down the hall. It was clear that the creatures had heard what she was doing. Regardless, Kari continued her efforts and sooner than she expected she had broken away all the glass. The smell of salt air and dead fish rushed into the musty room. It was not a pleasant change, one foul odor hd simply been substituted for another.

Moving as quickly and as carefully as she could, Kari tied one end of the rope to the curtain rod, hoping that it would support her weight. Afterwards she threw the other end out the window and stuck her head out. Kari was relieved to find the ground was not too far down. It seemed that she was only on the second story of the building. She stuck her head back into the room, turned around, and stuck her head back out facing up. Taking the rope firmly in her right hand and placing her let hand on the outside of the window, Kari carefully pushed herself up so that she was sitting on the window frame. More croaking noises emanated from outside the door. The time for hesitation was over.

With the rope still firmly in hand, Kari climbed the rest of the way out and began repelling down the side of the building. Kari had done some repelling one summer on a camping trip with Ken, Yolei, and Davis, so it was not a new experience to her. As soon as her feet safely touched the ground, Kari let go of the rope and started running for it. Of course she had no idea where she was running to, she just chose to go left and ran for it. Kari knew that she had to get as far away from the prison as possible. Hesitantly though, Kari took one look back at the place. It looked to be an old abandoned inn, just as the appearance of the room implied. Kari did not dwell on it much though. She kept running along that dismal grey beach as fast as she could.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> The idea of T.K. having to work with Devimon in order to save Kari was something I had thought up from day one of planning this story. I've always been rather fond of stories where the main character has to depend on the arch nemesis for help, especially if that arch nemesis is really evil.

Review and let me know what you think.


	10. Second Home by the Sea

**Author's Note:** The title of this chapter is from the Genesis album, Genesis, and is actually the second half to the song, Home by the Sea. This second half is mostly instrumental, and was released on the album as a separate track. Anyway, the first part of this chapter is exposition and foreshadowing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 9: "Second Home by the Sea"<p>

T.K. could not believe the situation he was in. There he was walking along the beach with Angemon and Gatomon following Devimon, his most hated enemy, to the place where the evil Digimon claimed was a way to The Dark Ocean. T.K. thought that it was either out of desperation of madness that he was listening to Devimon. As much as he hoped that the evil Digimon could lead him to Kari, he could not bring himself to fully believe Devimon. The more rational part of T.K.'s mind wouldn't let him. Yet what other choice did he have? The only path to Kari seemed to lead through Devimon, and he had to take it.

Of course Angemon and Gatomon didn't believe Devimon anymore than T.K. did. They too believed that they were being lead into a trap. Angemon especially believed that. He had not returned to his form of Patamon since Devimon had shown up. T.K. knew that it was impossible for Angemon to trust or believe Devimon, as the evil Digimon was Angemon's polar opposite. Yet T.K. had decided to take a chance and follow Devimon, so Angemon did the same out of loyalty. T.K. felt an immense amount of guilt over this, and knew that he would never forgive himself if they were indeed walking into a trap.

"Hey, how much further is this place you're taking us too?" Gatomon asked Devimon.

"It's not much further." Devimon replied. "For now you should take the time to enjoy the walk like I am. I've never been to the human world before. It's actually quite lovelier than I expected. It will be so much fun when I finally take it over."

"You'll be dead before that happens!" Angemon proclaimed, causing Devimon to chuckle a bit.

T.K. glanced over to his left and saw the sun beginning to set over the ocean. The day was starting to end. T.K. wondered if Devimon was being deliberately slow. Then T.K. began to wonder just how much Devimon knew about The Dark Ocean. It was certainly clear that the Fallen Angel Digimon knew far more about the place than he did, but just how much did Devimon really know, if he knew anything at all?

"Hey Devimon, how much do you know about The Dark Ocean?" T.K. asked.

"Hmm… good question." Devimon replied. "How much do you know?"

T.K. knew that it was going to be difficult to get a straight answer out of Devimon, if it was possible at all. But as seeing as he didn't have any other option, he decided to play along.

"I know that The Dark Ocean seems to be separate from the Digital World, and that there are some kind of creatures living there." T.K. replied.

"Alright, that's a good place to start." Devimon responded. "The Dark Ocean is indeed a separate realm from the digital World, yet it is also a part of it as well. Think of The Dark Ocean as the shadow that the Digital World casts, and that shadow overlaps with the shadow of the human world, creating a connection."

"What about those creatures?" T.K. asked. "Are they Digimon or something else?"

"I'm guessing you're referring to the Deep Ones." Devimon replied. "They were Digimon once long ago, but then they started worshipping the god of The Dark Ocean to gain immortality and power. As a result they became twisted unholy creatures that even I despise. Never the less they make an effective army."

"What about this god that these 'Deep Ones' worship?" T.K. asked. "Do you know anything about it?"

"The god that the Deep Ones worship is a Digimon, that much I am certain about." Devimon replied. "It goes by many names and titles, such as the Sinful Priest of the Ocean Floor. But its proper name is Dragomon. It is an Ultimate level Digimon, but it has powers that make it stronger than most Mega-Ultimate Digimon. Even the Dark Masters dared not to interfere with Dragomon."

T.K. shuddered a little when Devimon said that even the Dark Masters seemed to fear Dragomon. The Dark Masters were four of the most powerful evil Digimon that the Digidestined had ever faced. So to hear that there was a Digimon that even the Dark Masters feared, one that was a full evolutionary level than they were, was very unsettling.

"Of course, there is still a power stronger than Dragomon in The Dark Ocean." Devimon continued. "Dragomon may be the ruler of The Dark Ocean, but there exists a power there that even he bows to. It is that power which has been interfering with your attempts to reach the girl."

"What is this power?" T.K. asked hesitantly.

"Their names are no longer spoken." Devimon replied. "They are Digimon like Dragomon, but their powers are immense. The most ancient legends say that they fought a war against the gods of the Digital World and lost. And as punishment they were banished to The Dark Ocean. Since that time many refer to them simply as The Old Ones. And it is said that one day when the stars and planets are aligned just right, they will break free from The Dark Ocean with Dragomon and destroy both the human and Digital Worlds."

"You really expect us to believe all that?" Gatomon asked.

"Even I do not believe all of it myself." Devimon replied. "I am only telling you things I have herd or pieced together. And I can assure you that I have found many things to tell me that what I have told you is true… Come to think of it, what is tomorrow's date here in the human world?"

"April thirtieth." T.K. answered with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well if I'm right, tomorrow is a day when the stars and planets will be in the proper alignment, the perfect chance for Dragomon and The Old Ones to escape." Devimon replied. "And if that's true, then they might need a sacrifice to gain power to open a portal out of that realm. I believe that they might wish to use the girl for that purpose."

"You mean they're going to kill Kari?" Gatomon asked in horror.

"I believe that's what I implied." Devimon answered.

"Why didn't you say something about that sooner?" T.K. furiously demanded.

"Oh, it just slipped my mind." Devimon replied in an amused tone. "As I have said I am not certain that what I have just told you is accurate. And even if it is it will not help us get to the girl any faster. In any case it doesn't matter, we're here."

Devimon pointed a clawed finger at an abandoned two-story building only a few feet away. The structure looked like it was once some sort of hotel in its heyday. The sign above the door confirmed this assumption. The paint of the sign was faded, but the letters were still readable as "Home by the Sea Inn".

"How will this place help us get to The Dark Ocean?" Angemon asked.

"There is an exact replica of this building at The Dark Ocean." Devimon replied. "And if I am correct it is the place where the girl is being held. As I have said, this world and the Digital World are connected to The Dark Ocean. This building is one such connection."

"So what do we do now?" Gatomon asked.

"What else little kitten? We go in." Devimon chuckled.

A moment later the group entered the lobby of the old inn. The smell of dust and decay was overpowering. It was clear that the structure had not been opened in years. As T.K.'s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see fully the state of decay that the place was in. The decorative wallpaper in the lobby was faded and peeling. There were moth eaten chairs and broken tables in a few corners. The front desk and everything on it was covered with a think grey sheet of dust.

"Okay, now what?" T.K. asked.

"Now we follow you." Devimon answered. "You and the girl are connected, so only you can find the room where she is being held, for that is the room where we will find the entrance."

"How am I supposed to find the room?" T.K. asked in a frustrated tone.

"Follow your instincts boy." Devimon replied. "Your feelings will lead us to the right room."

"But… I don't have the slightest idea where to go." T.K. responded sadly.

"Trust yourself T.K." Angemon said supportively. "If this foul creature is right, then you are the one who can find the right path. Believe in yourself, because I believe in you."

Moved by Angemon's words, T.K. took a deep breath and looked around the lobby. He began focusing his thoughts on finding Kari. It suddenly occurred to T.K. to go to the second floor, so he began climbing the rotted staircase, the boards creaking with every step he took. Gatomon followed close behind T.K. up the steps. Angemon and Devimon took their own route to the second floor and flew up there with their wings. Upon reaching the floor, T.K. went in the direction that he felt was best and went right. He kept walking until he reached the end of the hallway. The three Digimon were still following close behind.

It occurred to T.K. to try entering the room on the left. Surprisingly the door opened with ease. Immediately T.K. entered the room. To his left he saw a small bathroom, and to his far right was a wall with a closed window and tattered curtains. Against the far wall were a single bed and a nightstand with a broken lamp. As he stood in the room, T.K. felt that the rot and decay of the place was somehow stronger and somehow familiar. Then it hit T.K. that he had felt this same feeling all those years ago at The Dark Ocean.

"Okay, we're here." T.K. confirmed. "Now what Devimon?"

"Now we must all focus." Devimon replied. "If this is indeed the right room then it should be where the interference of The Old Ones is weakest and have the same atmosphere of The Dark Ocean. Now we must all convince ourselves that we are truly there, denying that we are in the human world. If we do that, then we shall pass into the identical version of this room at The Dark Ocean."

"You're going with?" T.K. asked, narrowing his eyes at Devimon.

"Don't be foolish boy." Devimon said with an evil smirk. "Right now Gatomon is useless without the girl. And while Angemon is indeed a formidable warrior, he alone cannot fight off the hoards of Deep Ones that you are sure to encounter. You still need my help for that."

T.K. couldn't deny that they probably needed help in fighting once they reached The Dark Ocean. But he didn't trust Devimon would be that help. Since T.K. had entered that abandoned room however, he felt less sure that the evil Digimon was leading them into a trap, but that didn't mean that Devimon didn't have his own reasons for helping them. T.K. was still sure that once Devimon had gotten what he was after he would leave T.K. and the others high and dry. It was still clear to T.K. however that he didn't have much choice.

"…So all we have to do is just tell ourselves that we're at The Dark Ocean and we're there?" T.K. asked skeptically.

"More or less." Devimon replied. "I assume that even you boy are familiar with the human expression, 'I think, therefore I am'. The principle is the same. The four of us need to think that we are at The Dark Ocean and not in the human world and those thoughts will be reality. Focus on the atmosphere of The Dark Ocean in this room and it will take you there."

T.K. looked from Devimon, to Gatomon, then to Angemon. As absurd as Devimon's method of travel sounded, both Gatomon and Angemon seemed to agree that it was their only option. Deciding that he needed to be relaxed in order to focus on being at The Dark Ocean, T.K. laid down on the bed, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began telling himself that he and his companions were at The Dark Ocean. Following his lead, Gatomon hopped up on the bed and curled up on T.K.'s legs. At the same time, Angemon sat down on the floor next to the bed. Devimon took a similar position across the room.

It seemed like hours had passed as T.K. focused on the atmosphere of The Dark Ocean that was present in the room and used it to convince himself that he was actually at The Dark Ocean. One thing that seemed to help was the thought of being in the same place as Kari. Not necessarily near her or even the same room as her, but that she was somewhere nearby, somewhere he could reach her. Suddenly T.K.'s nostrils were assaulted by the sent of salt air and dead fish. Then he became conscious of the sound of waves that were not present before.

T.K. opened his eyes and saw that the once dark room was dimly lit by a grey twilight. He sat up in bed and looked out the window. The sky covered by thick grey clouds. T.K. also noticed that the window was broken and that there was a sort of rope made from sheets and rags hanging out of it by the curtain rod. T.K. looked around the room and saw that Gatomon, Angemon, and Devimon were still in the room with him. He also saw that the door was off its hinges and that the nightstand was on its side in front of it.

The three Digimon soon noticed that they too were at The Dark Ocean. There was however no sign of Kari. Although T.K. was able to piece together that something had happened in that room.

"I don't get it, where's Kari?" Gatomon asked in a worried tone. "Isn't she supposed to be here?"

"I think she was here Gatomon." T.K. answered. "But it looks like she escaped."

"A rather desperate move on her part." Devimon commented. "This makes it much harder to find her."

"Why are you so concerned about Kari?" Angemon asked in a suspicious tone.

"We will need her power to oppose Dragomon." Devimon answered. "And perhaps even The Old Ones as well should we encounter them."

"We're not here to fight anyone, just rescue Kari." T.K. told the evil Digimon.

"Don't be a fool boy!" Devimon said sternly. "We are sure to encounter enemies here, and considering that Dragomon may already have the girl, we will have no choice but to fight!"

T.K. could not deny the Fallen Angel Digimon's logic, but it did seem like Devimon was eager to fight. T.K. thought that perhaps Devimon was helping them because he wanted to fight Dragomon and perhaps The Old Ones for some reason. But whatever Devimon's true motives were, T.K. decided that he would worry about them later. The most important thing at the moment was finding Kari. T.K. decided that his best bet was to follow Kari's escape route.

Without hesitation, T.K. went out the window and climbed down the rope that had most likely been left behind by Kari. As he climbed down, Gatomon jumped out the window and effortlessly landed on the ground with her feet. A moment after T.K. had gotten to the ground himself; beams of purple and gold light blasted a hole through the part of the wall where the window was. Afterward Devimon and Angemon flew through the hole. It wasn't really surprising to T.K. that the two Digimon had made their own exit, as the window was just a little too small to fit their wings through.

"Which way now?" Gatomon asked as the two Angel Digimon flew to the ground.

T.K. pulled out his D-3, the device he had that allowed Patamon to evolve. The device also had a function that allowed him to track other Digidestined who also possessed D-3s, such as Kari. Unfortunately the small screen on the device showed nothing, which meant that Kari was probably out of range.

"T.K., look at the ground." Angemon said pointing, getting T.K.'s attention.

T.K. looked at the ground in the direction that Angemon was pointing and saw footprints in the sand. The footprints were clearly made by a human. Clipping his D-3 back to his belt, T.K. began heading in the direction of the footprints. His three companions followed close behind. For the first time in a long time, T.K. felt sure that he was finally going to see Kari again.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> The method used by T.K. and the others to get to The Dark Ocean was inspired by the method of time travel used in the movie, _Somewhere In Time_. It's a terrible movie, but it has the most unique method of time travel I've ever seen in a fictional story. Metaphysical stuff is actually kind of cool to use in a love story. Unless the writer goes overboard with it, then it just ends up being weird and you spend about two hours trying to figure out the ending.

There are also some Lovecraftian terms used in this chapter. As some of you reading probably already know, the original episode with The Dark Ocean in the anime was inspired by the works of horror writer H.P, Lovecraft. Specifically the stories, _The Call of Cthulhu_ and _The Shadow Over Innsmouth_, so it's not surprising that those stories have influenced this tale as well The term "Deep Ones" was the name of the underwater creatures in _The Shadow Over Innsmouth_, and of course was used in this story to describe the transformed Divermon/Scubamon who live at The Dark Ocean. Of course that name has been used for these Digimon before by others.

The term "Old Ones" has been used a number of times in Lovecraft's stories to describe a couple of different things. In the story _At the Mountains of Madness_ it was used for the name of the aliens responsible for building the lost city found by the explorers. The term was also used for the entities connected to Lovecraft's iconic Cthulhu (which Dragomon is heavaly based upon). As for what I've used the term for in this story, you'll find out soon enough. )

There are a couple of other Lovecraftian references in this story. The part where Devimon says that Dragomon and "The Old Ones" could only escape The Dark Ocean when the stars and planets were properly aligned is a reference to _The Call of Cthulhu_ where the narrator find out that Cthulhu and "The Old Ones" can live when "the stars are right", and are otherwise in a dead and dormant state. As for the part about Kari being sacrificed on April 30th, that's a reference to _The Shadow Over Innsmouth_, which mentions that the people of Innsmouth perform ritual sacrifices on the dates of April 30th and October 31st.

Sorry for the long author's note. I just wanted to give credit where credit is do. Anyway, review and let me know what you think.


	11. So Close, Yet So Far

**Author's Note:** There's no Phil Collins or Genesis song used for the title of this chapter. That's because I thought that the title it does have was far more appropriate. T.K. suffers a bit of a setback in this chapter I'm afraid. I can be real evil sometimes. Well, you've been warned.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 10: So Close, Yet So Far<p>

Kari walked along that grey dismal beach for what seemed like many hours. Just before she escaped from her prison at that dark inn she though that the fresh air would do her good, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. The smell of salt and dead fish was too much to take at times, and Kari swore that if she ever got home she would never touch fish as long as she lived. Though the horrid and ill prepared meals that were served to her in the room that was her cell helped see to that quite some time ago. Along the seemingly endless beach, Kari saw nothing but huge rocks and a few caves that she dared not explore. It seemed to her that she was in the most desolate spot of all at The Dark Ocean.

Every now and then, Kari would rest by one of the large rocks and boulders that lined the beach, or use them to hide from small groups of the fish-frog things that had captured her. She had forgotten just how horrible the things looked, their glassy sunken eyes and long gangly arms, and the weird skin that made them look like living shadows. Each time Kari had come across a group of the things she would freeze behind one of the rocks and watch them, her heart beating a mile a minute from fear. It took every ounce of her willpower for her not to scream or make any noise when she saw them. Fortune seemed to be with Kari though, as the creatures never noticed her. They would mostly talk amongst themselves in their blasphemous croaking tongue and then walk into the ocean.

As Kari walked she tried to figure out what her next move was. She realized that by escaping she had made it a little harder for any rescuers to find her, although Kari had mostly given up hope of rescue quite some time ago. Her only hope seemed to be finding some sort of escape route from The Dark Ocean on her own. Surely there had to be a portal of some kind that existed there that could at least take her to the normal Digital World. If Kari could find that, then returning home would be a simple matter.

Suddenly Kari spotted a structure of some kind in the distance. She ran a short ways to get a better look at it, and what she saw seemed to crush whatever hope of escape she had left. The building was the inn where Kari had been held prisoner. She then realized the horrid reality of exactly where she was. Kari was at The Dark Ocean that much she already knew, but it suddenly became clear that she was at a different part than the one she was at before. It looked as though Kari was on a very small island completely separate from the beach with that abandoned village she had been to previously. All Kari had done was go in one big circle; her attempt at escape seemed not only impossible but also completely pointless. Giving into despair, Kari turned and looked out over the ocean as tears started to roll down her face.

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><p>T.K. and his three companions continued to follow what they all hoped were Kari's footprints, every now and than T.K. would check his D-3 to see if Kari was near, but each time it showed no signal. Kari's trail was easy to follow though. It was fortunate that she had walked so far away from the water, and that there was very little wind on that beach. Suddenly Gatomon stopped walking. The feline Digimon's ears had picked up some subtle noise. T.K., Angemon, and Devimon stopped walking and tensed up in preparation to face whatever was the source of the unknown sound. Sure enough, a group of the horrid fish-frog creatures that Devimon had referred to as Deep Ones had appeared.<p>

There were about sixteen of them, all of them surrounding the group. The things did not make a move right away; they only stared at the group with their glassy eyes. Suddenly one of the Deep Ones lunged at T.K., and like lightning Angemon moved and knocked it to the ground with his staff. Then with one more hit from his golden staff, Angemon destroyed the creature, its body evaporating into bits of data that faded away. This proved that the creatures were still Digimon in some way.

Another one attacked, and Gatomon jumped up and managed to knock it away. Angemon finished the thing off with a beam of golden light from his right fist. Devimon meanwhile fired on the other creatures with purple beams of light from his claws. The combined attacks from both Devimon and Angemon gravely wounded the attacking Deep Ones, though it was clear that the things had no intention of retreating. Angemon decided that it was time to finish them off.

"Omni Typhoon!" Angemon cried as he raised his staff in the air and began spinning it.

The Angel Digimon's move sent forth a large twister that finished off what remained of the attacking Deep Ones. With their enemies slain the group continued on their path. More hours seemed to pass as they walked on. Suddenly T.K.'s D-3 started making a beeping noise. He looked at the small screen and saw a red dot flashing on it. It indicated that a signal from another D-3 was not too far ahead of them. T.K. looked up and saw that there was indeed a human figure sitting on the beach looking out over the ocean. Immediately T.K. began running towards the figure, his three companions matching his speed.

Meanwhile Kari noticed the beeping sound coming from her own D-3, which had been clipped to her belt since she arrived at The Dark Ocean. Then out of the corner of her eye she noticed the small group that was running towards her. She saw right away that they were not the creatures that she had been hiding from. In fact she could just make out that one was a large white cat and the other a young man with blond hair. With her hope suddenly renewed, Kari got to her feet and began running towards the familiar figures.

Meanwhile as T.K. got closer to the person that was now running towards him, he could see that it was clearly Kari. Her hair was a bit longer and she was a little thinner but it was definitely Kari. Upon this confirmation T.K. started running faster and calling out Kari's name. Gatomon started doing the same thing. On the other end of this encounter Kari started running faster and calling out T.K.'s name in response. Tears were streaming down her face.

Then, just as the runners were only a few feet away from being reunited a gigantic pillar of fire came between them, cutting them off from each other. The pillar vanished revealing a robed, hooded figure in red. A silver medallion was around the figure's neck. Above the hole in the hood that only revealed a pair of blue glowing eyes was a gold inverted pentagram. A pair of hands with light-blue skin and red claws peeked out from the long sleeves of the robe, and a pair of long curved horns stuck out of the sides of the figure's head. On its back was a pair of large black and purple bat-like wings. Immediately T.K. recognized the figure as Daemon, the evil Digimon that Ken had sent to The Dark Ocean many years ago.

"So the child of hope has somehow managed to make it here despite all that has been done to keep him out." Daemon said in a low and evil sounding voice. "This is quite inconvenient, but not a problem beyond my power to remedy."

"At last one of The Old Ones has revealed himself!" Devimon said with glee as he flew in front of T.K. "I knew that I would encounter one of you if I helped this pathetic boy reach this realm."

T.K. was startled by Devimon's news that Daemon was one of The Old Ones that were said to be more powerful than Dragomon, the god of the Deep Ones. It actually made some sense to T.K. When the Digidestined fought Daemon originally they couldn't destroy him, only banish him to The Dark Ocean. Still, if what Devimon had said about the power of The Old Ones was true, than it meant that Daemon was far more powerful than he thought. It also meant that getting past Daemon to get to Kari might be impossible.

"You helped the child of hope?" Daemon asked Devimon. "Why would you help an enemy?"

"He may be an enemy, but he is also useful." Devimon replied. "For I can use both him and the girl to gain what I seek, which is the power of The Old Ones, your power!"

At last it all made sense to T.K. why Devimon was helping him. It was all so he could gain more power. It didn't really matter to T.K. at that moment though. Kari was in far more trouble than before and he needed all the help he could get. T.K. decided that he would deal with Devimon once Kari was safe. In the meantime the combined power of both Devimon and Angemon was his best hope.

"Ambitious." Daemon commented wryly. "But also traitorous! My brethren and I are gods to Demon and Fallen Angel Digimon like you Lord Devimon. You should serve us! I admire your lust for power, but I cannot stand your insolence! If you choose to stand against me or my comrades you shall parish!"

"We shall see." Devimon said defiantly. "Now stand aside and let us get to the girl!"

"Or what, you'll destroy me?" Daemon asked amused. "Perhaps if you actually had the child of light I would be somewhat worried, but as it is she is still my captive. You were not able to get to her fast enough, so your plan has failed."

"Devimon is not the only opponent you have to deal with evil one!" Angemon said as he took a position next to Devimon. "Now do as he said and stand aside!"

"An Angel Digimon?" Daemon laughed. "You have indeed become desperate Lord Devimon. But even if you had an army of Angel Digimon you still could not defeat me!"

With that boasting both Devimon and Angemon fired purple and gold beams at Daemon. The attacks seemed to cause the Demon Lord Digimon some pain, but he brushed it off and sent back a burst of flames that not only hit Devimon and Angemon, but T.K. and Gatomon as well. After that T.K. started blacking in and out. He had lost site of Devimon, but he saw a knocked out Angemon revert back to Patamon. Then he blacked out again, but in the blackness he could he Kari scream his name and Gatomon's. When T.K. came to again he saw Daemon fly off into the sky with Kari. Then he fell back again into black unconsciousness.

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><p>Bet you thought I forgot about Daemon, didn't you? Like I said, I can be real evil sometimes.<p>

Don't worry, I'll get to the next chapter as soon as I can. In the meantime, review and tell me what you think.


	12. Undertow

**Author's Note:** In retrospect I probably could've made this chapter and the previous one a single chapter, but the cliffhanger seemed like a good idea to keep readers interested (not that they were losing interest). Anyway, the Genesis song used for the title of this chapter is from the album, And Then There Were Three, and it's one of my favorites. For some reason I thought of that song when I planned this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 11: "Undertow"<p>

Daemon flew through the air with the captured Kari in his arms. It seemed to Kari that they had not been flying long. Then she saw where her captor was taking her, it was the horrid black reef that jutted out into the ocean from that decaying village. Kari was also horrified to see that a group of Deep Ones was waiting for them on that reef. Daemon landed on the tip of the reef where two Deep Ones were waiting in front of a large wooden cross. Upon landing the Demon Lord let go of Kari and spoke to the two waiting Deep Ones in a blasphemous and hate-filled language that hurt Kari's ears to hear spoken. Immediately the two creatures grabbed Kari and started dragging her to the cross, causing her to scream.

"Scream all you like child of light, it will do you no good." Daemon laughed. "Your champion the child of hope and that traitor Devimon have been neutralized, and I have seen to it that the rest of the Digidestined think that you are not here in this realm. You should be thankful at least that you will not become breeding stock for Dragomon's worshippers, but your fate is sealed. This day Dragomon will kill you and use your blood to create the bridge that my brethren and I will use to leave this realm and invade your world and the Digital World. Then a new and glorious age will begin!"

With those words Daemon flew to the beach behind the reef as the two Deep Ones finished tying Kari to the cross. Once the two creatures left, Kari began thinking about her situation. It seemed to her that things had become truly hopeless. She believed Daemon when he said that he made sure that the rest of her friends and her brother thought that she wasn't at The Dark Ocean. It explained why no one except T.K. and Gatomon had come to rescue her. As for T.K. and Gatomon, Kari felt somewhat certain that they did not survive Daemon's attack. It was true that Devimon and Angemon took the brunt of the blast of hellfire that Daemon shot at them, but T.K. and Gatomon were hit all the same, and the last Kari saw of them was them laying on the ground unconscious.

That image crushed all the hope that Kari had left. The only thing that had kept her going in that wretched realm of despair was the thought of seeing T.K. again, of telling him her feelings for him. Her heart leapt for joy when she saw him running towards her on that beach, but then that joy was violently ripped away by Daemon's arrival. Now that it seemed to Kari that T.K. was dead, she had nothing left to live for. The god of the Deep Ones could tear her to shreds and Daemon could burn the universe to ashes and it wouldn't matter. Without T.K. her life had no meaning.

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><p>T.K. sat up slowly on the beach after finally regaining consciousness. The horrifying memory of Kari being taken away by Daemon rushed back to him as he recalled how he was knocked out. Next to T.K. Gatomon was getting back to her feet, and already Patamon was walking towards them.<p>

"Are you two okay?" Patamon asked.

"I think so." Gatomon replied. "What about you T.K.?"

"Well I'm alive anyway." T.K. answered. "But I'm far from okay. We lost Kari again."

"We can get her back." Patamon said reassuringly. "She's still here at The Dark Ocean. All we have to do is find her again."

"And do what exactly? Daemon has her now!" Gatomon said discouragingly. "We don't stand a chance against him!"

"Damn!" T.K. yelled as he hit the ground with his fist. "I'm so useless! I always have been! In all of the battles we've fought in the past it was always someone else who saved the day like my brother, or Tai, or Davis and Ken! All I could ever do was watch and do nothing…"

"So you've returned to feeling sorry for yourself." A familiar yet evil voice suddenly said, breaking T.K. from his thoughts.

The group turned and saw Devimon limping towards them and holding his left arm.

"Oh don't be so surprised." Devimon laughed as he looked at the group. "You should know by now that I'm not that easy to kill. Although it seems as though Daemon has shown us some mercy. He could have easily killed us with that blast yet he didn't. I did not expect such an act from an Old One."

"What do you want now?" T.K. asked in a tone that made it clear that he did not want to be bothered by his arch nemesis.

"Well I thought that you still wanted to save the girl." Devimon replied. "I know where Daemon has taken her. She is at the village where you found her all those years ago in this realm. I can lead the way, but it seems that you are no longer interested. Now it seems that you're just going to stand by while Dragomon and Daemon kill the girl, just as I thought you might."

Devimon's words angered T.K., but the evil Digimon was right. T.K. was just going to stand by, but what else could he do? Daemon was far too powerful for them to fight alone, and with this Dragomon also in the picture a rescue seemed impossible.

"T.K." Patamon called, getting T.K.'s attention. "You're not useless. It's because of you that I was able to evolve and defeat Devimon when we fought him on File Island, and it's also because of you that I was able to evolve again and defeat Piedmon, the leader of the Dark Masters. You gave me the strength to do all that. But it's not just me though; you're the reason why Matt and Tai became so strong, because they fought for you. And I know that you're the reason why Kari has been able to keep going here at The Dark Ocean all this time. You're the only one who can save Kari now T.K., and I know you can do it no matter how powerful Daemon and Dragomon are. You may not believe in yourself right now T.K., but I do. So until you can believe in yourself, believe in the me that believes in you."

T.K. was moved by Patamon's words. He had no idea that the little Digimon believed in him so much, and he realized that Patamon was right. Many times T.K. thought he was weak because Patamon was the last of the eight original Digimon partners to reach his Champion and Ultimate forms. Yet even though he was a late bloomer, Patamon was one of the strongest, and it was because of T.K. that Patamon was even able to evolve at all. T.K. found that Patamon's faith in him was enough for him to get going again, and he realized that there was someone else who had faith in him, Kari.

Kari was out there waiting for T.K. to rescue her, and he couldn't let her down, he would never forgive himself if he did. With new determination T.K. got back to his feet. From his green jacket he pulled out a grey palm pilot like device with a black grip and fired it up. He looked at Patamon, and with a nod of confirmation from his partner T.K. pressed a button on the device that caused his D-3 to react and Patamon to shine with a golden light.

"Patamon armor digivolve to… Pegasusmon, Flying Hope!" Patamon cried as he transformed, his voice changing with the utterance of his other name and title.

When the light cleared, Patamon had transformed into an orange horse with a gold main and tail, and a pair of large gold-feathered wings. His ears had retained the same bat-wing shape that they had in his regular form. Golden armor covered Pegasusmon's torso, ankles, and face. With the transformation complete, T.K. mounted his steed and prepared to fly off.

"You're still going after her?" Gatomon asked sounding surprised.

"Don't you want to save Kari?" T.K. asked the feline Digimon.

"Well yeah, but… it just seems so impossible." Gatomon said in a helpless tone.

"I'll do it, no matter how impossible it seems!" T.K. declared.

Gatomon looked at the determination in T.K.'s eyes. It was a determination that she had never seen in T.K. before, and it was a determination that made her believe that T.K. actually could save Kari despite the obstacles in front of them. With her hope renewed, Gatomon jumped onto Pegasusmon's back and took a seat in front of T.K.

"Lead the way Devimon!" T.K. commanded. "And go as fast as you can!"

"So now you're ordering me around." Devimon said with amusement. "When all this is over I shall have to teach you your place, but for now I shall do as you wish."

With that, Devimon took off into the sky and went in the direction that led to Kari. Pegasusmon took off and followed close behind. As they flew T.K. was still not certain if he really could save Kari, but he had to try. It was his time to be the hero. T.K. swore to himself that he would save Kari even if it cost him his life.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> A few of you probably noticed that I used a line from Gurren Lagann in Patamon's inspirational speech. I didn't plan to, it just sort of came to me when I was writing that scene. It does seem a little appropriate though. I mean one could say that T.K. is a little bit like Simon.

Stay tuned for the thrilling climax of Digimon: Home by the Sea! In the meantime, review and let me know what you think.


	13. Hope and Light

**Author's Note:** Almost thought that I wasn't going to be able to add this chapter today because of problems with this site's login page. Anyway, there's not too much to say about the chapter at this point. The only things to mention are that there's no Phil Collins or Genesis song used for the title of this chapter and that this is basically the climax of the story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Chapter 12: Hope and Light<p>

Kari looked out over The Dark Ocean. There was nothing else that she could do as she was tied to a wooden cross at the end of that horrible black reef. A hoard of Deep Ones had gathered at the beach behind the reef awaiting the arrival of their god. Daemon hovered in the sky above to watch the ritual that was about to take place. Suddenly the waves hitting against the black reef and the beach began to grow larger. Kari was drenched several times by the mist. The Deep Ones took the occurrence as a signal that their god was about to appear and began bowing repeatedly to the ocean and chanting in their horrid croaking voices.

At last something began to rise up from the ocean. In the beginning only a pale-blue dome was visible, but quickly the thing came into full view. The creature had an octopus-like head with piercing red eyes and tentacles that just covered a fang filled mouth. From what Kari could tell its body was nothing but a mass of tentacles that were coiled together to form a humanoid shape. On its so-called back was a pair of large orange bat-like wings, and it wore a set of prayer beads around what might be considered by some to be a neck. The very sight of the thing combined with its massive size filled Kari with paralyzing terror.

"Behold!" Daemon called out. "The Sinful Priest of the Ocean Floor, Dragomon, has arrived!"

The rate of the Deep Ones' chanting increased as Dragomon took two steps towards the reef. The ocean god stopped only a few feet away from the reef and looked down at Kari. Despite the distance Kari could smell Dragomon's breath. It was the foulest thing she had ever smelled, like a piece of meat that had spoiled for a thousand years. The stench was almost suffocating, and Kari found herself actually welcoming the sent of salt and dead fish that always seemed to be present at that horrid ocean.

"So this is the fabled child of light." Dragomon said in a deep and slopping sounding voice as he eyed Kari like a piece of meat on a stick. "I can see why my subjects wanted her to breed with. That thought occurred to me as well just now."

Kari almost passed out when she heard Dragomon's remark. The thought of the Deep Ones violating her was unspeakable enough, but the very idea that Dragomon also expressed an interest in using her for his sick pleasures… Kari could not even bring herself to imagine it, lest she lose what remained of her sanity.

"But alas, The Old Ones have decreed that you must be sacrificed so that the barrier between this realm and the realms of the Digital and human worlds may be broken." Dragomon continued, making it clear that he was speaking to Kari. "Once that is done however, a new age will begin for both realms. The humans and Digimon who survive our advent shall come to see The Old Ones and myself as gods, and we shall teach them the ways of chaos and destruction. Then at long last both worlds shall become as my kingdom. You should feel honored child of light, for your blood shall pave the way for a new era."

It seemed to Kari that the end had finally come. She took some small comfort in the fact that she was only going to be killed and not used for the sick desires of some unholy creature. Then in the distance Kari noticed something in the sky flying towards Dragomon, and it was coming fast. From what Kari could tell the thing had wings, and it suddenly flapped them and sent a shower of fireballs at Dragomon. The projectiles did not seem to cause Dragomon great pain, but it did cause the ocean god to turn and look to see what hit him. Then the thing that attacked Dragomon came close enough for Kari to make out, and her heart leapt when she saw just what it was.

It was an orange Pegasus with gold wings and armor, and riding on its back was a young man with blond hair and a large white cat. Immediately Kari knew that it was T.K. and Gatomon riding on Patamon's armored form of Pegasusmon. Of course Kari was not the only one to notice who Dragomon's attackers were. Daemon also saw the arrival of Kari's would be rescuers. The Demon Lord raised his arms forward to send forth a stream of fire that would knock Pegasusmon out of the sky when he was hit in the side by a beam of purple light. Daemon turned to see Devimon hovering only a few feet away with a cocky smile on his face.

"The child of hope and his servant are Dragomon's opponents!" Devimon proclaimed. "Your battle is with me Old One!"

"I spared you because I admired your ambition." Daemon said calmly but with a note of irritation. "But I see now that the only way for me to teach you your place is to kill you."

"You may try Old One, but before this day is over I shall destroy you and claim your power for myself!" Devimon boasted.

"We shall see arrogant one." Daemon replied.

As Daemon and Devimon began an aerial battle over the beach, T.K. and Pegasusmon continued attacking Dragomon just as Perseus attacked the Kraken in the myths of ancient Greece. The attacks only seemed to irritate Dragomon however, and the ocean god swatted at Pegasusmon with his tentacles. The tentacles managed to hit Pegasusmon, but the winged horse Digimon managed to make a rough landing on the black reef in front of Kari. T.K. and Gatomon were knocked off of Pegasusmon's back as he hit the reef. The impact had caused the winged horse to revert back to Patamon.

Despite the rough landing, T.K. and Gatomon got back to their feet quite quickly. Patamon meanwhile was quickly able to get back up and flew up to hover in front of T.K. As T.K. and Patamon stood and faced Dragomon, Gatomon ran to help Kari.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you Gatomon." Kari said tearfully.

"I'm really happy to see you too Kari, but we'll have to save the reunion for later." Gatomon said seriously as she busied herself with cutting the ropes that held Kari to the cross with her claws.

T.K. and Patamon meanwhile were preparing to face Dragomon.

"So you are the child of hope." Dragomon said in a tone that could be considered amusement. "The attacks of your servant were useless against me, yet you still dare to oppose me?"

"I'll fight you to the end to save Kari!" T.K. declared.

"You would die to protect the child of light?" Dragomon asked with a hideous laugh. "Does she really mean so much to you that you would throw away everything?"

"I love her!" T.K. blurted out, forgetting that Kari was within earshot. "And I would give my life to protect her from any evil! Nothing else matters as long as she's safe! But no matter what I'll se to it that you and your followers never try to hurt Kari again, even if it means I have to destroy you and this whole ocean!"

As Dragomon laughed at T.K.'s proclamation, Kari was completely moved by what she had just heard. She had hoped, especially recently, that T.K. felt about her the same way she had felt about him, but she had no idea that he cared for her so much. Kari actually felt quite guilty; she thought that T.K. deserved someone better than her. She had given up on T.K. twice, recently when Daemon attacked him on that beach, and years ago when she started going out with Davis. Kari felt certain that she was not good enough for T.K. to risk his life for.

"You can boast all you like but it will do you no good." Dragomon said to T.K. "After all, how could someone like you ever hope to overcome my power?"

"I don't know how I'll beat you, but I will!" T.K. proclaimed. "I don't have all that much faith in myself, but there are people who do, people I care about! And those people have fought for me many times! I believe in them because they believe in me, and I know that somehow their belief in me will be enough to defeat you!"

Suddenly T.K.'s D-3 began to spark and beep rapidly on his belt. The sparking and beeping increased steadily until it let out the mechanized cry of one word.

"BIOMERGE!"

With that word T.K. turned into a ball of golden light that entered Patamon and caused a startling transformation.

"Patamon biomerge digivolve to… Seraphimon!" Patamon cried as he transformed with a blinding flash, his voice becoming similar to Angemon's as he uttered the name of his most powerful evolutionary form.

When the light cleared it revealed a humanoid figured clad in shining silver armor, his face completely covered by a helmet with a gold cross on the front, a pair of gold wings on the sides, and a gold blade on top that somewhat resembled a Mohawk. A gold breechcloth with words written in the language of the Digital World upon it hung down in front of his legs. On his back were ten gold-feathered wings that shined with a light so bright that it banished the gloomy grey twilight of The Dark Ocean.

Not too far away, Deamon blasted Devimon with on final blast of hellfire. The attack had finished Devimon off, and the Fallen Angel Digimon began to slowly disintegrate into particles of data that evaporated into the air. Both Deamon and Devimon noticed Seraphimon's arrival however, and Devimon began to laugh evilly when he saw the Celestial Digimon.

"I may have lost to you Old One, but it seems that at least you will not triumph either!" Devimon declared to Daemon. "Now that Seraphimon has come, you and your high priest Dragomon stand no chance of succeeding! And as for you Seraphimon, and you too boy, for I know you can hear me, I have one last thing to say to you both!"

Seraphimon turned his head to hear what the dying Devimon had to say.

"I am impressed by how powerful you've become!" Devimon said to Seraphimon as he continued to fade away. "You have far exceeded my expectations and have proven to be worthy foes! I ask that you do me only one favor and do what I could not do, destroy The Old Ones! I may not be able to claim their power, but at least with you I may have revenge! I know you will not disappoint me!"

With those words, Devimon laughed one last time before fading away completely. Within Seraphimon, T.K. was trying to figure out just what was going on. He was not certain of course, but it looked to him like he and Patamon had somehow become one, though he had no idea how or why it happened. Nor did he have any idea what to do next. Was he now supposed to fight Dragomon?

_"T.K."_ Seraphimon's voice called out. _"Your hope and your belief in your ability to save Kari have allowed us to unite. Together we can stop Dragomon and Daemon and put an end to this nightmare."_

T.K. still didn't understand what was going on, but he decided that he would figure it out later. All that mattered was that he and Patamon had gained the power to save Kari and he intended to use it.

"What sorcery is this?" Dragomon asked angrily. "I do not know what power you have used to gain this form, but no matter what tricks you have you cannot defeat me! I am the god of this realm, and no power you have is stronger than mine!"

"You are no god Dragomon!" Seraphimon declared in both his own voice and T.K.'s. "You are only a monster worshipped by the twisted and depraved! No true god would condone the murder of innocent people and revel in blood and destruction!"

"You know nothing of my power!" Dragomon shouted. "I will make you pay for your insults and destroy you right now!"

With that, Dragomon lashed at Seraphimon with an arm of tentacles, but with lightning speed Seraphimon not only dodged the attack but cut off the arm of tentacles with a sword blade that had extended from his right gauntlet. Dragomon roared in pain as he held the stump with his other arm of tentacles.

"Now you see how weak you truly are!" Seraphimon declared as he retracted his blade and raised his arms forward. "Strike of the Seven Stars!"

With those words Seraphimon fired a cluster of seven fireballs from his hands. The fireballs hit Dragomon in his side and knocked him into the shallow water. Seraphimon was about to fire another attack, but a stream of fire suddenly got in his way. The Celestial Digimon turned and saw Daemon hovering not too far away.

"You are indeed powerful Seraphimon, but with me here you cannot win!" Daemon declared. "For just as Devimon is the opposite of Angemon, I am your opposite! I am the darkness to your light! Ages ago I was in fact a Seraphimon myself, but my anger at the gods of the Digital World caused me to take on this form and to join the ones who fought against those gods. I am your reflection Seraphimon! And against both me and Dragomon you cannot hope to triumph!"

"Even if that is true I shall still win!" Seraphimon proclaimed. "In case you haven't noticed I just wounded your ally Dragomon! And I can still defeat you even if you are my reflection! For good will always triumph over evil!"

"Really?" Deamon asked sounding amused. "Let us test just how valid your claims really are!"

Just as Daemon finished speaking, a gigantic pair of jaws burst forth from the water's surface under Seraphimon. The Celestial Digimon managed to fly out of the grasp of those massive jaws just in time before they chomped down. Seraphimon looked down at what had just tried to eat him and saw an enormous and almost prehistoric looking red crocodile with a black scaly back. The thing had two tails with blue fins on the end, and its eyes glowed like a pair of blue fireballs. From within Seraphimon T.K. recognized the creature from his nightmare about the aquarium as the thing in the tank that ate Kari.

"That is Leviamon!" Daemon introduced. "Like me he is what that fool Devimon would call an Old One, one of the leaders in the war against the gods of the Digital World."

"Daemon, why have you and Dragomon not completed the ritual that will allow all of us to leave this realm?" Leviamon asked in a deep reptilian voice. "The master grows impatient."

"A minor annoyance has gotten in our way." Daemon explained. "But with your help we can remove it once and for all and get on with the ritual."

"You mean this Angel Digimon that shines with such a glorious light?" Leviamon asked. "I suppose I can help you destroy him. Perhaps I may gain his power if I eat him."

"How typical of you Leviamon, always coveting the powers of other Digimon when you yourself may perhaps be one of the strongest Digimon of them all." Daemon commented wryly.

Just as Daemon finished talking, Seraphimon saw a gigantic trident being thrown at him and moved just in time to avoid being hit. The Celestial Digimon looked and saw that the trident had been thrown by Dragomon, who was now standing back up and glaring at him with red glowing eyes filled with rage.

"As you can see Seraphimon, while Dragomon may be wounded he is still quite powerful!" Daemon declared. "And both Leviamon and myself are at full strength! Against the three of us you cannot win!"

With that Daemon launched another blast of hellfire at Seraphimon and a terrible battle with three opponents ensued. Seraphimon kept dodging Daemon's flames, Dragomon tentacles and trident, and Laviamon's jaws, along with the corrosive rainbow colored smoke that Leviamon breathed from his nostrils. All the while Seraphimon fired off his own attacks, but when he fired at one opponent the other two would intercept it. The Celestial Digimon and the human partner within him were beginning to feel overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, Gatomon had finally finished cutting through Kari's ropes. The feline Digimon was surprised at just how thick they were. But just because Kari was freed did not mean that she was out of danger. The Deep Ones had started to become restless since Seraphimon's battle with Dragomon began. Several members of the hoard had slowly started to head towards the reef. Gatomon was at a loss as to what to do, there was no way that she could take on an army of Deep Ones by herself, and Seraphimon was too busy trying to fight Damon and his two aquatic titans.

Kari meanwhile was too preoccupied with Seraphimon's battle to notice the hoard of Deep Ones heading towards her and Gatomon. Once she had been freed from the cross she took two steps forward and fell to her knees, all the while keeping her eyes on Seraphimon. Kari knew that Seraphimon was also T.K.; she saw the biomerge evolution occur with her own eyes. She did not know the how or the why, but it did not matter. The only thing that mattered to Kari was T.K. was fighting to protect her, and that he might die doing it.

"…Why?" Kari asked getting Gatomon's attention. "Why is T.K. fighting so hard to save me?"

"Why do you think Kari? T.K. loves you." Gatomon answered sounding a little surprised by her human partner's question. "He's crazy about you. T.K. never gave up hope that he would find you, and he even risked working with Devimon to come here and save you."

"He shouldn't try so hard to save someone worthless like me." Kari stated tearfully. "I don't deserve him!"

"What? Kari that's just not true!" Gatomon exclaimed, becoming somewhat unaware of the large group of Deep Ones that was slowly creeping towards them on the reef.

"It is true!" Kari maintained as she became more upset. "I'm a total idiot! T.K. fights so hard to protect me and he said that he believed in me because he thought I believed in him! But the truth is I've given up on him several times! I even gave up on the idea that T.K. thought of me as more than just a friend and wasted years with that son of a bitch Davis! I even took that idiot back twice after he cheated on me! I was sure that T.K. wouldn't want anything to do with me after that! And yet here he is still trying to save me again and it might just get killed! He shouldn't throw away his life to save me! He doesn't deserve to die! He's trying so hard to save me and I can't do anything to help him! I can't save anyone!"

As Kari wallowed in self-loathing and regret the Deep Ones continued to advance. Meanwhile the combined power of Daemon, Dragomon, and Leviamon was becoming too much for Seraphimon to handle. It was getting harder for the Celestial Digimon to dodge some of the attacks of his opponents. What was worse was that Daemon and his two comrades were becoming better at coordinating their assault. From within Seraphimon T.K. was feeling less and less sure that he could win, and down on the ground Kari was feeling the same way.

"Why is he wasting his time on me?" Kari cried as she started repeatedly hitting the ground that was the black reef hard with her hand. "Why? Why? Why? Why?"

The Deep Ones began closing in on Kari and Gatomon, and Seraphimon's three opponents looked ready to deliver one final blow. Kari looked back up and saw that T.K. was about to be hit badly and shouted his name at the top of his lungs. In that very instant Kari's D-3 began sparking and beeping rapidly, increasing in intensity until it let out the mechanized cry of one word.

"BIOMERGE!"

With that word Kari turned into a ball of pink light that went into Gatomon, causing a blinding flash of light that not only repelled the Deep Ones but also got the attention of Seraphimon, Daemon, Dragomon, and Leviamon.

"Gatomon biomerge digivolve to… Ophanimon!" Gatomon cried as she transformed in that explosion of light, her voice changing as she uttered her other name.

When the light finally cleared, it revealed a woman in blue-green and silver armor that had a design similar to Seraphimon's. Though there were quite a few differences. Her helmet did not cover her entire face, it revealed only her mouth, and it did not cover up her long flowing strawberry blond hair. Though the helmet did had the same gold cross on the front as Seraphimon's. The front part of the armor revealed Ophanimon's bare stomach, and instead of normal leg armor she had a white shimmering skirt that was covered in the regular blue-green armor above the knees. On her feet she wore elegant high-heeled shoes the same color as her armor, and on her back were eight golden wings that shined with a brilliant light.

"Impossible!" Daemon exclaimed. "How could the child of light have produced another Celestial Digimon?"

T.K. was a little confused as well as he looked on through Seraphimon's eyes, especially since the last time Gatomon had evolved to a Mega-Ultimate form it was a pink dragon called Magnadramon. Still, T.K. decided that it didn't matter, and he had to admit that he wasn't really surprised. Whenever things were at their darkest, Kari had always managed to show her true power and save the day. T.K. had always believed in that power, he had always believed in Kari herself in fact. Looking back, T.K. realized that it was his belief in Kari that allowed him to keep fighting, to keep going during that dark month when she was missing without a trace. Maybe T.K. couldn't believe in himself, but he realized that he could always believe in Kari, and once again that belief renewed both his own strength and Seraphimon's.

"Daemon!" Seraphimon called, once again speaking with his own voice and T.K.'s. "This battle ends now!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> So as you've just read I used the Biomerge evolution method from Digimon Tamers to unlock Patamon and Gatomon's Mega forms in this story. I will of course explain how T.K. and Kari were able to Biomerge in the next chapter, which will by the way be the last chapter. Although there will be an epilogue too, so you may just want to wait until that's up to read the next chapter. Then again I may just wait to add the next chapter when I have the epilogue written and add them both at the same time. We'll just see what I feel like doing.

Anyway, the main reason why I used the Biomerge method is because I thought it'd be a better battle if T.K. actually fought Daemon and Dragomon himself instead of just standing by and watch Seraphimon fight for him. That was one of the small things that bugged me about Adventure and Adventure 02, the Digimon did all the fighting and the kids just watched sort of. Not that they were useless of course, but it sometimes seemed like they didn't add much to the battles.

As for why I used Ophanimon for Gatomon's Mega form instead of Magnadramon, I did that for two reasons.

1.) I don't know if anyone whose watched Tamers has ever noticed this, but all of the Digimon who evolved by Biomerging had a humanoid shape. Even MegaGargomon, who was a giant, had a head, two arms, two legs, and a torso.

2.) I felt that Gatomon evolving into a form that was essentially Seraphimon's female counterpart would be symbolic of Kari fully realizing her feelings for T.K.

So I guess one of the few good things that came out of Digimon Frontier was that it gave us all this alternative to Magnadramon.

So what do you think about me using the Biomerge method in this story, do you like it? Hate it? What about me using Ophanimon instead of Magnadramon? Please review and tell me what you think. Your opinions won't change the story, but I'd like to know anyway. Also, stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to Digimon: Home by the Sea!


	14. Take Me Home

**Author's Note:** Well, here's the final chapter. Although since I'm going to do an epilogue I guess it's technically the second to final chapter. Anyway, the Phil Collins song I've used for the title of this chapter, "Take Me Home", is from the album called No Jacket Required, and it's one of my all time favorite songs. From what I recall reading, the song was inspired by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. To me this song has always seemed like the perfect background theme for someone coming back from some horrible ordeal, like a war or a false imprisonment of some kind. So it seemed like the perfect song for this chapter. It's actually a song I encourage you all to listen to while reading the end of this chapter, but it is optional.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon. If I did the relationship between T.K. and Kari would've been confirmed in the anime.

* * *

><p>Chapter 13: "Take Me Home"<p>

Ophanimon hovered a foot or two above the black reef. Her appearance had caused Seraphimon's battle with Daemon, Dragomon, and Leviamon to pause, as well as halt the oncoming hoard of Deep Ones. Within Ophanimon, Kari was trying to figure out just what was going on. She remembered turning into light and going inside Gatomon, and that somehow caused the feline Digimon to evolve. What Kari did no understand was how it had happened in the first place.

_"Don't be afraid Kari."_ Ophanimon called out in a warm maternal voice. _"Your refusal to not let T.K. parish has allowed us to join as one. Together with our power we can put an end to this ordeal and save T.K."_

Kari still didn't understand what was going on, but if she had gained the ability to save T.K., she would use it. Meanwhile, the Deep Ones decided to continue advancing. In response Ophanimon raised her arms forward and began firing several clusters of multicolored crystals at the hoard. The Deep Ones that were hit disintegrated into particles of data, causing the rest of the hoard to jump into water and flee into the depths. With the Deep Ones gone, Ophanimon turned her attention to the three attacking Seraphimon.

With a flash of gold light, an ornate golden javelin appeared in Ophanimon's right hand, and in her left appeared a blue-green shield with the head of a gold unicorn emblazoned on the front. With weapons in hand, Ophanimon took off into the sky like a rocket. However Leviamon noticed the approaching Celestial Digimon and headed towards her.

"Such a beautiful light!" Leviamon roared. "I shall devour you and gain that light for myself!"

"You think you can eat me? Go ahead and try!" Ophanimon cried in both her own voice and Kari's as she flew into Leviamon's open jaws at full speed.

Once deep enough inside Leviamon's quickly closing mouth, Ophanimon stopped and raised the end of her javelin into the air.

"Eden's Javelin!" Ophanimon cried, and a beam of golden light shot from the end of her weapon.

The blast of light was so powerful that it blew a hole through the top of Leviamon's head, illuminating the dull grey sky as it shot high into the air. Ophanimon flew through that hole as the giant demon crocodile dissolved into particles of data. With Leviamon destroyed, Ophanimon took a moment to catch her breath. She did not have long though, for Dragomon had begun stumbling towards her.

"One way or another child of light, you will be sacrificed for the glory of The Old Ones!" Dragomon roared.

Like lightning Seraphimon flew in front of Ophanimon and fired a large orb of gold light from his fist. The orb hit Dragomon directly in the chest and created a huge explosion. As the light of the explosion faded, the remains of Dragomon dissolved into particles of data and evaporated into the air. With the ocean god dead, a hole of light appeared in the sky, brining color to the dismal grey realm. Daemon narrowed his eyes of the two Celestial Digimon that were now hovering side by side in the air. With his allies gone, the Demon Lord did not feel confident that he could win against two high level angels.

"You may have won this battle, but I shall return!" Daemon declared. "In the end you and your allies shall parish and my brethren and I shall become the gods of both worlds!"

With that Daemon vanished in a burst of flames. Suddenly Ophanimon started to fall out of the sky, but Seraphimon quickly caught her.

"Are you okay?" Seraphimon asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired." Ophanimon said with a reassuring smile.

"C'mon, let's get out of here." Seraphimon suggested.

Ophanimon nodded, and with that the two flew up into the hole in the sky. As soon as they passed through the portal there was a blinding flash of white light.

* * *

><p>When the light cleared, Seraphimon and Ophanimon had split into the respective pairs of T.K. and Patamon and Kari and Gatomon. The four found themselves standing a top a high mountain overlooking an ocean. They were no longer at The Dark Ocean; the area was free of the dismal grey twilight and sent of dead fish. The sky was covered by heavy storm clouds however. The weather was calm, but it seemed that a storm was going to begin at any moment.<p>

"Where are we?" Kari asked as she looked around.

"It's just a hunch, but I think we're in the Digital World." Gatomon answered.

"Your hunch is correct." A voice from the right suddenly said.

The four turned and saw a rather young looking man with short brown hair wearing white robes. The group immediately recognized who the man was.

"Gennai?" T.K. asked with a tone of surprise.

"It's been awhile since we've last seen each other." The man replied as confirmation of his identity.

"What's going on? Where exactly are we?" T.K. asked.

"All will be revealed in time." Gennai replied. "First we need to wait for someone else to show up, but he should be here shortly."

As if on cue, the storm clouds over the ocean were parted by a white light. From the light emerged a gigantic serpentine dragon with a body that looked as if it was made of a bluish-white light. A pair of chains was wrapped around the length of the dragon's body, and all four of its claws had a set of three orbs of light that hovered around them. On its face the dragon wore a blue mask with yellow stripes and a lightning bolt shaped blade on the top like a horn. The dragon also had four eyes and a long grey beard that covered its mouth. Immediately the group recognized the dragon as Azulongmon, one of the four ancient Digimon who protected the Digital World and were known as the Harmonious Ones.

"The children of hope and light. It is good to see you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances." Azulongmon said in a loud booming voice. "I am sorry about the hardships you must have faced at The Dark Ocean."

"Did you bring us here?" Kari asked.

"Once you passed through the portal I whisked the four of you here to this mountain." Azulongmon answered. "I was in fact the one who opened the portal, though I could do nothing until the ruler of The Dark Ocean was destroyed. Great was the power of Dragomon, and the power of his allies is greater still."

"You mean The Old Ones?" T.K. asked.

"What do you know of them?" Azulongmon asked.

"Only that Daemon was one of them, and that monster Leviamon." T.K. answered. "Plus Devimon said something about them fighting a war against the gods of the Digital World. Come to think about it, Daemon said something about that too."

"What you have heard about the war is true." Azulongmon replied. "In the ancient past The Old Ones were known as the Seven Lords, and they had led an army against myself and the other powerful beings who watch over the Digital World, and even against the ancient being who was said to have created the Digital World itself. The Seven Lords had lost the war, but in the end they could not be destroyed, only sealed away in The Dark Ocean."

"Well one of them got destroyed." Gatomon interrupted. "Kari and I managed to take out Leviamon."

"That is good to hear." Azulongmon replied. "But as long as the rest of the Seven Lords are still alive, both our worlds are in grave danger."

"You make it sound like they're coming back." T.K. commented.

"They are." Azulongmon said gravely. "For eons the barrier of The Dark Ocean has weakened, though it was never perfect to begin with. We had failed to take into account Dragomon and his power over the realm. In the past few decades the barriers between The Dark Ocean and the human and Digital Worlds have finally become weak enough for others to be pulled in and for beings like Daemon to pass through."

"Those monsters wanted to sacrifice Kari in some sort of ritual." Gatomon commented. "What was that about?"

"That ritual would have allowed Dragomon to destroy the barrier completely." Azulongmon explained. "If that happened The Dark Ocean would have spilled into other worlds and there would have been no difference between them. It would also have allowed the strongest members of the Seven Lords to escape."

"Um, excuse me Azulongmon sir." Patamon interrupted. "I was wondering just how T.K. and I merged together and become Seraphimon."

"You speak of the Biomerge system." Azulongmon replied. "I will let Gennai explain that."

"The Biomerge system is something that I developed as a new method for allowing a Digidestined's partner to attain its Mega-Ultimate form." Gennai began. "I began working on its development after you and the other Digidestined had given up your crests to release the Harmonious Ones. It occurred to me that other threats to the Digital World might arise and that even more power might be needed. I had no idea how right I was. Unfortunately I had encountered a small problem.

"I found that in order for the Biomerge system to work the partner Digimon's possible Mega form needed to have a somewhat humanoid shape. Only a small number of the partner Digimon had this compatibility. So I shelved the project and focused on using DNA evolution instead. However, very soon after you destroyed MaloMyotismon, Lord Azulongmon told me to install the program for the Biomerge system in both your D-3s, which I did secretly. At the time I did not know Lord Azulongmon's reasons for having me do that, but very soon it all became clear."

"Azulongmon was afraid that the Seven Lords were coming back." T.K. realized.

"That's right." Gennai confirmed. "After Daemon had wreaked havoc in the human world, Lord Azulongmon became concerned that the barrier of The Dark Ocean was close to failing completely. It wasn't until after I installed the system in your D-3s that I learned of the Seven Lords."

"The two of you are among the strongest of the Digidestined." Azulongmon cut in. "And the Mega forms of your Digimon partners have powers equal to a few of the Seven Lords. I felt that it was necessary to insure that you were able to unlock your full power if and when they returned."

"So what happens now?" Kari asked. "Are you going to send us home?"

"You will be returned to the human world, but I am afraid it is too dangerous to send you home." Azulongmon answered. "No doubt that your time in The Dark Ocean has weakened you. You need time to regain your strength. For now the four of you must be hidden, lest what remains of the Seven Lords make another attempt to destroy you. Think of this as a sort of witness protection."

"You should also think of this as a vacation." Gennai added. "After what you have been through it's important for you to get some rest and enjoy yourselves."

"Hold on, shouldn't we talk about…" T.K. began, but before he could finish Azulongmon emanated a brilliant flash of light that knocked the four out cold.

* * *

><p>After an unknown amount of time, Kari woke up, but she did not want to open her eyes. The terrible thought that what had just happened to her was only a dream and that she was still in that wretched prison at The Dark Ocean. She couldn't take seeing that terrible room again after such a wonderful dream, and it did seem like a dream in some ways. T.K. rescuing her, combing with Gatomon to become Ophanimon, it all seemed too good to be true. But then Kari suddenly heard a sound that she had not heard in quite some time, it was the sound of a bird chirping.<p>

Kari began to notice other things as well. The bed she was on was softer and smelled much nicer, cleaner. She also felt that a pleasant warmth around her, and realized that an arm was draped over her. This realization not only caused Kari to open her eyes, but sit up in bed suddenly. She looked closely at her new surroundings. Kari was in a bedroom of some sort, but it was not the decaying room of her former prison. It was a very large and well-furnished room with walls of pure white. To her immediate left was a large open window overlooking a meadow lit by the setting sun.

As for the bed, Kari found that she was on what looked to be a king-sized bed with clean white sheets and a red blanket. Both Patamon and Gatomon were sound asleep on the foot o the bed. Kari looked to her right and blushed when she saw that the person sleeping next to her was T.K., though they were still fully clothed. However T.K.'s green jacket had been removed, revealing his grey short sleeved. As Kari looked at T.K., she had noticed how muscular he had become since she had last seen him, which made her blush even more. Suddenly T.K. woke up and sat up in bed next to Kari.

"You okay Kari?" T.K. asked.

"Yeah…" Kari replied.

"Where are we anyway?" T.K. asked as he took a quick look around the room.

"I don't know…" Kari answered.

Suddenly Kari fully realized her new situation; she was no longer trapped at The Dark Ocean, not only that, she was with T.K. again, her nightmare was over. The joy of this realization and all of the emotion she had been holding back at The Dark Ocean, the fear and nervousness, and the relief that both she and T.K. were still alive; all of it hit Kari at once. It was all too much for Kari to take, and she hugged T.K. hard and broke down in tears. T.K. hugged her back and cried a bit himself; the ordeal truly had been hard on both of them. It was quite some time before both of them clamed down. For what seemed like hours the two were silent, T.K. held Kari and stroked her hair. Outside the setting sun came lower and lower.

"…T.K., about what you said to Dragomon back at The Dark Ocean." Kari suddenly said breaking the silence. "How you said that you loved me."

"Yeah?" T.K. responded, giving Kari her full attention.

"…Well the truth is…" Kari continued. "I love you too… I've actually been in love with you for a long time."

"…I had a feeling that you did." T.K. replied.

"But you deserve someone better than me." Kari said sadly, causing T.K. to look directly at her.

"Why would you say that?" T.K. asked sounding both surprised and confused.

"Because I gave up on you." Kari answered, finding it hard to look directly at T.K. "I gave up on the idea that you thought of me as more than just a friend and started going out with Davis."

"…That was my fault." T.K. replied. "I was too afraid to that if I told you my feelings and you didn't feel the same way that it might destroy our friendship. I didn't want that."

"But even so, I should've waited." Kari maintained. "I should've been more patient."

"Kari, no one could expect you to wait around for me forever." T.K. responded. "It was my mistake for not telling you how I felt. It's only natural that you gave up and settled for Davis."

"But don't you hate me for going out with Davis instead of you?" Kari asked, now looking directly at T.K. "Don't you hate me for taking that loser back twice after he cheated on me?"

"Kari I could never hate you." T.K. said sounding shocked. "All I've cared about is your happiness. You thought that you could be happy with Davis, so I supported you even though I didn't like it."

There was a pause after this. Kari was simply amazed by what T.K. had just told her. It was as if no matter how wonderful she thought he was, T.K. was even more wonderful than that, and it amazed her to no end.

"…So why didn't you ever say how you really felt about me?" T.K. suddenly asked, catching Kari off guard.

"Well the truth is… I was also afraid that you didn't feel the same way." Kari answered. "I didn't want to ruin our friendship either."

"We're quite the pair." T.K. chuckled. "But the truth is Kari… you complete me. Over these past few days I've realized that you're the light that keeps me going. Without you my life has absolutely no meaning. I love you more than anything."

Kari was completely moved by what T.K. had just said, and she remembered how the thought of T.K. rescuing her was what kept her going in that hellish realm of despair that was The Dark Ocean and realized one thing.

"You complete me too." Kari said softly, looking directly into T.K.'s eyes.

After that there was no more need for words between the two of them, and their lips soon became locked in a passionate kiss, their tongues soon becoming intertwined, moving against one another back and forth. After awhile though the couple finally broke for air, and T.K. looked at Kari and saw the worn out expression on her face.

"You tired?" T.K. asked.

"A bit." Kari answered. "I haven't had a good night's sleep in… my god, I how long was I at that place?"

"A little over a month." T.K. answered.

"A month?" Kari asked in utter shock. "It felt longer than that."

"No kidding." T.K. agreed. "…Wanna try getting some sleep?"

"…Will you stay here with me?" Kari asked. "I don't think I could get to sleep alone right now."

"Of course." T.K. said gladly.

With that, Kari laid back down on the bed. T.K. joined her, pulling the blanket over them in the process. The two fell asleep in each other's arms, and it was the soundest sleep they had had in over a month.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Well there you have it. That's more or less the end of the story. I've always thought that a happy ending has more power behind it if the characters in the story have gone though a living hell, especially in a love story. But then this isn't quite the end. For just where did T.K. and Kari end up? And what of Daemon and the rest of the Seven Lords (now six since I killed off Leviamon). Those questions will be answered in the epilogue, so stay tuned.

In the meantime review and let me know what you think.


	15. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>Epilogue<p>

Kari woke up slowly, becoming aware of a pleasant feeling of warmth surrounding her. She found that this warmth made her feel very happy and content, and she suddenly remembered the events of the previous night. Slowly Kari opened her eyes and saw T.K.'s sleeping face directly in front of her. Kari smiled and nuzzled in closer to T.K., inadvertently rousing him from his own slumber.

"Hey." T.K. greeted somewhat drowsily with a smile.

"Hi." Kari greeted back smiling.

The couple began lightly kissing each other on the lips. They were interrupted however by the sound of a creaking door, which was closely followed by the sounds of flapping wings and paws running across carpet.

"Kari!" a familiar female voice called out, causing both T.K. and Kari to sit up.

Gatomon jumped onto the bed and tackled Kari with a hug; a tearful smile was on the feline Digimon's face. Patamon landed on the foot of the bed and looked on with his own cheerful expression.

"Hi there Gatomon." Kari greeted happily as she hugged her old friend, it had been quite some time since the two had seen each other.

T.K. glanced away from the happy reunion and noticed that something was watching them. It was a fairly small raptor-like creature, but instead of scales it was covered in a sort of lavender colored fur, with white fur covering its belly, forepaws, feet, and the tip of its snout. The creature also had a long bushy tail that ended in a tip of white fur. It was the type of tail that one might normally expect to see on a fox. On the creature's head was a pair of pointed ears covered with black fur, and on its back was a pair of small black bat-like wings. As the thing looked at them with its big yellow eyes, T.K. noticed the large triangular gemstone that adorned the creature's forehead.

"Hey Patamon, who's your friend?" T.K. asked, getting both Kari and Gatomon's attention and causing Patamon to glance over at the thing that dragon-like creature that was watching them.

"Oh, that's Dorumon." Patamon introduced. "He doesn't talk much but he's very nice."

"Easy for you to say." Gatomon said as she turned her head and narrowed her eyes at Dorumon. "He didn't chase you up a tree."

Dorumon growled at Gatomon's comment, causing Gatomon to hiss back in response.

"Calm down you two!" a voice from outside the room commanded. "I don't need you tearing up the house again!"

The owner of the voice walked into the room, revealing himself as a young handsome looking man about T.K. and Kari's age with short black hair and dark blue eyes. He wore tan slacks and a light green polo shirt under a navy blue jacket, and on his face was a pair of glasses with square frames. As the young man glanced around the room he suddenly noticed that T.K. and Kari were both awake.

"Oh, forgive me for just barging in like I did." The young man said apologetically. "I had no idea that you were awake, though with this rabble barging in I'm hardly surprised."

T.K. and Kari did not respond, only looked at the young man with slightly startled expressions.

"I actually am rather relieved to see you both awake though." The young man continued as he sat down in a nearby chair. "You were asleep for an entire day. Although from what your two companions have told me I can understand why. You must have both been through an incredibly dreadful ordeal. It's not surprising that you'd need a large amount of rest. I hope that you will forgive my presumption in placing you both in the same bed. I merely assumed that you were involved romantically, though again from what I've heard from your companions it seems that my assumption was correct."

"Uh, who are you?" T.K. asked as the young man finally paused.

"Oh, forgive me. I do forget myself sometimes." The young man chuckled. "My name is Arthur Pierce, and like you I am a Digidestined. I assume that you are already somewhat familiar with my faithful companion Dorumon."

With that Dorumon trotted up next to Arthur's chair, causing the young man to pat the Dragon Digimon in response.

"As to where you are, you are currently in the guest room at my family's mansion in Vermont." Arthur continued. "I'm hoping that you will find your stay here to be a pleasant one."

"Did Gennai bring us here?" Kari asked.

"As a matter a fact yes." Arthur answered. "It was actually quite a surprise. I was out in front of the house walking Dorumon at the time, and suddenly there was a flash of white light by the front door. Naturally Dorumon and I went to investigate, and there we found old Gennai, with the four of you unconscious at his feet. He told me of your situation; that you needed to rest here and hide from the terrible things that are most likely still going to try to kill you. So for the next month or so you may consider both Dorumon and yourself to be your hosts and bodyguards."

"So I guess we can't contact our friends and family back home." T.K. assumed.

"I'm afraid not." Arthur replied. "Old Gennai was very clear on that subject. He said that we could not afford the enemy finding out where you are, at least not awhile."

"That's fine I guess." Kari suddenly said. "I would like for Tai and the others to know I'm okay, but if Gennai thinks that it's safer for us not to, than I guess I can live with it. I mean he's never steered us wrong before."

"I guess I'm okay with it too then." T.K. added.

"Marvelous!" Arthur replied cheerfully. "I'm glad that we're all on the same page. I would not want any of you to feel as if you were being held prisoner. Until the next battle comes I shall see to it that your stay here is a good one."

"Next battle?" T.K. asked.

"Yes, the truth is that I've actually been expecting you for quite some time." Arthur replied as his expression became more serious. "You see years ago my team and I, that is the group of Digidestined that I was a part of, had learned of the group known as the Seven Lords. Which are apparently now the Six Lords from what Miss Gatomon has mentioned about the death of that creature Leviamon, marvelous job on that by the way. Anyway, we were told by old Gennai and the Harmonious Ones that one day the pair known as the children of hope and light would come before us, and that we would have to work with them to defeat the Seven Lords once and for all."

"So the Harmonious Ones are sure that this battle is going to happen?" T.K. asked.

"Yes, and from what I've learned from your two friends, so am I." Arthur replied gravely.

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><p>Back at The Dark Ocean, Daemon flied back to the island with the old inn where Kari had been held prisoner for over a month. The Demon Lord entered the building and went directly to the basement, stopping before a door with the number 666 written on it. Daemon spoke to the door in his own evil sounding language, making a mysterious sign to it with his left hand at the same time. The door swung open, closing itself once Daemon had walked through. As the Demon Lord descended a seemingly endless stairway, he knew that his master would not be pleased to see him, not after such a colossal failure.<p>

At last Daemon had reached the end on the mile long staircase, entering the cavernous expanse that housed the ancient and enormous castle of Pandemonium, the home of the Seven Lords. Reluctantly Daemon walked before the gigantic stone doors of the castle that were being guarded by a pair of black dragons with white snouts and four red glowing eyes. The arms of both dragons were long and ended in red talons, and two pairs of massive black wings. Their appearance was actually quite similar to that of Devimon. These were the Devidramon, evil Digimon who have been servants of darkness for millennia.

Daemon stood before the gates and spoke again in the evil language he had used to open the door to the cavern, making the same sign with his left hand as well. The massive demonic looking gates swung inward, and Daemon entered the castle. He walked down seemingly endless corridors dimly lit by the fire of torches until he at last came to the door to his masters throne room. The doors opened, and Daemon timidly entered.

The side of the room that Daemon was on was dimly lit by torchlight, but the other with the throne was completely shrouded in darkness. It was impossible to see if anyone was sitting on the throne, but Daemon did not have to see his master to know he was there. He could feel his master's presence, and could tell right away that he was displeased.

"So at last you have returned Daemon." The unseen master said in a sweet child-like voice. "I would like to know why you took so long to report back."

"Forgive me, my lord." Daemon said as he bowed apologetically. "I was merely taking some time to myself to formulate a new plan for us."

"More likely you were cowering somewhere because you were afraid to face me after such an outrageous blunder!" The Master said in a deep demonic sounding voice filled with hate. "Not only did you and Dragomon fail to kill the child of light and remove the barrier of this accursed realm, but you allowed both Dragomon AND Leviamon to be destroyed! What's worse is that the child of hope managed to come here and rescue the girl, something you assured me would not happen! And yet he was able to come here, and as a result the children of hope and light are both stronger! How do you explain yourself Daemon?"

"Well you see my lord…" Daemon began hesitantly. "A rogue Devimon helped the child of hope find a way through the barrier. His intention was to use the children to gain our power."

"You let one low level Fallen Angel Digimon derail our plans?" The Master asked, still speaking in his low hate-filled voice. "Why did you not destroy him or for that matter the child of hope as soon as you encountered them?"

"Well my lord… I did not think that they were any great threat to our plans." Daemon replied fearfully.

"FOOL!" The Master shouted as he launched ten white fireballs arranged in a cross at Daemon, knocking the Demon Lord against the wall. "Alone the children of hope and light are weak, but when united they become a powerful force! You were careless not to destroy him!"

"Forgive me my lord." Daemon begged as he got back to his feet.

"And now not only is the barrier still intact, but I'm sure that those old fools the Harmonious Ones have hidden them!" The Master continued, still speaking in his low hate-filled voice but in a somewhat calmer tone.

"Even so, all is not lost my lord." A female voice interrupted.

Stepping into the torchlight from a dark corner of the room was a beautiful woman with pale skin and long dark hair that was tied up with gold ornaments, one of which had a pair of small horns, and four that hung down from the back in the shaped of pointed tails. Pointed ears were just visible under the black locks. On her face the woman wore purple lipstick and mascara, and the symbol of a black bat was on her forehead. Around her neck she wore a black collar with gold trim, and she was clothed in a black low cut bodysuit that revealed her shoulders. On the back of the outfit hung four black ribbons, two of which were shaped like bat wings. Hanging from around the waste was a sort of purple skirt that was open in the front. The same fabric was used to form a pair of baggy sleeves, though the woman's right hand was still visible and was revealed to be a sort of talon with skin that looked like decaying flesh.

"What are you doing here Lilithmon?" The Master asked angrily.

"Forgive the intrusion my lord, but I was merely pointing out that there is an upside to all of this." Lilithmon replied. "For one thing even though the barrier is still enacted it is far weaker than before. Daemon, myself, and the rest of the Lords may now pass through."

"BUT I AM STILL TRAPPED HERE!" The Master shouted. "My powers are too massive for me to pass through!"

"True my lord, but the rest of us can pass through." Lilithmon continued, though somewhat hesitantly. "And once through we can find a way to break the barrier from the outside, allowing you to finally escape. Plus we can destroy the rest of the Digidestined in the process."

"…Go on Lilithmon." The Master said intrigued, now speaking in the sweet child voice he had used when Daemon had first entered his chamber.

"It is true that the children of hope and light are now hidden from us, but that means that they are hidden from the rest of the Digidestined as well." Lilithmon explained. "Without hope and light to believe in the rest of the Digidestined are lost, vulnerable. We now have the opportunity to break them both body and spirit."

"I'm guessing that you have something in mind for at least one of them." The Master said in his child voice, sounding amused.

"You know me too well my lord." Lilithmon replied with an evil smile. "Daemon's last report about them has given me ideas for the child of light's former lover."

"You truly live up to your title as the Goddess of Darkness." The Master chuckled. "Very well, the two of you may go to the human world, and take the other Lords with you! Destroy the other Digidestined of Japan if you can, but at the first opportunity you are to open the barrier enough for me to pass though!"

"Yes my lord!" Daemon and Lilithmon said together.

"One way or another, the age of chaos shall begin!" The Master proclaimed.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I'm sure a few of you reading have guessed the identity of Daemon and Lilithmon's unseen master. As I was writing this epilogue I was kind of thinking that maybe it was pointless to hide the "master's" identity, because it was probably kind of obvious. But I decided to do it anyway for the effect.

Well, there you have, the end of Digimon: Home by the Sea, but obviously there are still a few things left unresolved, like what remains of the Seven Lords. When I first planned this story, there was a lot I wanted to do, so much that just one story wasn't enough. This first story, which is my own version of the unmade Dark Ocean storyline from the anime, is over, but the larger story is about to begin. For now T.K. and Kari will be left at the home of the mysterious Arthur Pierce, who's story will be revealed in time. They will be back however. In the meantime, I'm going to do stuff with some of the other Digidestined. I've already hinted that Lilithmon has some unsavory plans for Davis, and in a future story there will be some very special "guest stars". So for right now I need to do a little bit of planning and research, but very soon the Demon Crisis will begin!

For now though, please review and tell me what you think.


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